Hear Me
by maryeemeeh
Summary: NS&DT Fic: Elsa seeks revenge on the former blue wind ranger as it brings unlikely people closer together. With Valentine's Day just around the corner, who will end up with who? (Final Chapter posted) COMPLETE!
1. Familiar Stranger

**A/N:** Here's a new story to kick off the new year!

Story takes place weeks after the Thunder Storm teamup. This will be my first Kira/Conner attempt, so be easy on me because I haven't watched much of Dino Thunder as I have of Ninja Storm.Other couples will be added to the mix as well. (Don't want to give too much away, although there's the obvious) Now that being said and done, enjoy!

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Chapter 1

**"Familiar Stranger"**

Conner, Ethan, and Kira all met up at Hayley's Cyberspace Cafe after another day at school. Hayley greeted them as the trio walked inside and settled for a table for three. Ethan bust out his laptop to complete the last two levels on some adventure game, in which he couldn't stop talking about along the way to the cafe. Conner and Kira were annoyed with his constant rambling when suddenly his eyes were glued to the computer screen. Kira begins taking out a few books from her yellow backpack to do some serious studying for Dr. O's test while Conner continues to play with his red soccer ball. Kira lost her train of thought and grunted as soon as the ball landed on her paper. "Conner!"

He quickly grabs the ball and raises his hands up defensively. "What?!"

"People are actually trying to study here." She said rolling her eyes. Conner impersonates her with a mocking look as Ethan chuckles from behind. Kira shot him an evil glance. "Argh! I can't study here." She gathers her things and strides towards the couch where Trent was studying peacefully during his break.

Ethan scoffs once Kira excuses herself from the table. "Like if she's gonna be able to study with him. Those two love birds will end up reciting poetry and singing songs to one another."

Conner rolls his eyes. "Whatever, dude." Moments later, a familiar blonde woman enters the Cyberspace Cafe as she made her way over to the bar. She wore blue denim jeans along with a blue long sleeve hooded shirt. Her hair was put in two braids with a white hat over her head. Conner watches her carefully as she and Hayley begins to talk nearby. "Dude." He gently elbows Ethan to the side.

"Hmm?" He responds vaguely with his eyes fixed onto the computer.

"Dude, look."

"What?" Ethan finally looks up at the direction Conner was pointing at. He opens his eyes wide. "Whoa. Isn't that?"'

"The crazed ninja terminator?" The red dino thunder ranger smirks. "Oh yeah."

Ethan raises an eyebrow. "Okay so?"

"So?! Dude, look at her."

He grins, getting his point. "Alright. I'm looking."

**---------------------------------------**

"Nice to see you again, Tori."

"Thanks, Hayley. You too."

"So what brings you here to Reefside?"

The blonde beauty just shrugged as she takes off her hat. "Well you know, I heard that you provide the best drinks that California has to offer."

She smiles pleasingly. "You came to the right place. What can I get you?"

Tori looks up from the menu, drumming her fingers against the table. "Hmm...a wild pineapple smoothie sounds great."

"Alright. One wild pineapple smoothie coming up."

She smiles. "Thanks, Hayley."

"No problem."

**---------------------------------------**

Conner turns back around from his seat and faces Ethan. "She is so cute."

He grins at him. "Go talk to her."

"No, man."

Ethan smirks. "Why? You chicken?"

He scoffs. "I am not chicken."

"Yeah? Then go talk to her." Conner turns back around to take one good look at the blonde. Ethan knew he was stalling as he groans impatiently and bangs his fist on the table. "Just go!"

Startled, he shook the table a bit. "Dude! Alright. Alright, I'm going." Conner rises up from his seat and pops his collar of his jacket. "So how do I look?"

Ethan arches his brow. "You don't expect me to comment on that now do you?"

"Dude!"

"Just hold on a sec." The blue dino ranger turns around from his chair. "Kira!" He shouted from across the cafe. The diva looks up from her science book with an evil glare. Ethan smiles innocently as he signals her to come over.

She groans reluctantly. "Oh this better be good." Trent chuckles as she lazily gets up and heads over to their table. "What is it?"

"How does Conner look?"

Kira arches a brow as she turns her gaze over to him before looking back at Ethan. "I got called over for this?"

"Just answer the question."

She faces Conner and groans. "You look fine."

"Just fine?"

Kira rolls her eyes. "Who are you trying to impress this time?"

**---------------------------------------**

"Hey, I'm Cassidy Cornell." The perky blonde introduces herself to Tori as she takes a seat right next to her. "I don't think we've met."

"No, I don't think so. Hi, I'm Tori."

"Um yeah, whatever. Devin!" She yells out. "Get me a latte!" Cassidy turns back to her with a forced smile. "You're not from around here are you?"

Tori nods her head. "No, I'm actually from Blue Bay Harbor."

"Oh. That's nice."

"Here's your latte, Cass."

"Thanks, Dev. Now shoot." He nods and walks back to his table. "So Blue Bay Harbor eh?"

"Yeah." Tori studies her face carefully. "You know, you look so familiar."

Cassidy shrugged while twirling a strand of hair around her finger. "I know I get that a lot. I'm a news reporter."

"Oh! That must be it."

"Totally." She takes a sip of her drink, and makes an unpleasant face. "Devin!" Cassidy yells out again. "This latte is too cold! Fix it, pronto!" Tori looks away, feeling bad for the guy as she hands him the cup. "Anyway, I have work to get too. Nice to meet you, Toby."

"Uh, it's Tori." She corrected her.

"Whatever." Cassidy stood up and weakly shakes her hand before walking back to her table.

"I hope she's not giving you a hard time." Hayley suddenly comes in with a glass of pineapple smoothie.

Tori nods her head. "No, it's fine. I deal with people like that back home."

"I bet. Well, here's your order."

"Thanks, Hayley. Looks great."

"Anytime. So how are you doing? How are the guys?"

She took a sip of the delicious smoothie through a straw and nodded her head. "Great. We're all doing great."

"And Blake?" She grins.

Tori paused and slowly look up at her. "How do you know--?"

"Hayley knows all, sweetie. Well? How's it going between you two?"

"Nothing." Tori averts from her gaze and sighs deeply. "Our feelings for each other pretty much died."

She pouts. "Oh, I'm sorry--"

"It's cool, Hayley." Tori smiles reassuringly. "We're both heading to different paths. He has a successful motorcross career to worry about, whereas, I am happy teaching at the Wind Ninja Academy with my boys, so it's all good."

Hayley smirks. "Your boys eh? Ever thought of hooking up with one of them instead?"

"What?!" Tori laughs out of disbelief. "No. First of all, Shane and Dustin are like my best friends and it'll always stay that way between us no matter what happens. If I'd ever hook up with them, it's like creating incest." Hayley chuckles in amusement. "Trust me, that's how tight it gets. Cam...honestly, I can never picture myself with him, or at least with a girl like me. He deserves someone who is a lot like him; an intelligent perfectionist."

"And Hunter?"

Tori paused to think about it for a moment. She looks back at Hayley and smiles. "Hunter will always be Hunter. We're just different, hardly any chemistry between us."

**---------------------------------------**

"Dude, what do you think they're talking about?"

Ethan and Kira looked at each other and rolled their eyes once they figured he was still standing there. "Come on already before she leaves."

"Yeah, she's like halfway through with her drink.

"Okay, but what do I say?" Conner begins to panic.

Ethan shrugged. "Gee, I don't know. Tell her how nice she looks."

Kira coughs from behind her book. The guys turned to her. "What? Or maybe, you can two talk about how she and her ninja friends kicked our butts last week."

"You're still not over that?"

Kira glares at Ethan. "Yes, I'm over it. It's called sarcasm."

"Whatever. Just because you weren't able to kick her butt..."

"Ethan!"

"What?!"

Conner rubs his eyes out of frustration. "You guys are missing the point here."

"Ugh! Whatever!" Kira gives in as she threw her backpack over her shoulder. The guys stare blankly at her. "Just be yourself, Conner. That's all a girl ever asks for." She pats him on the shoulder before exiting the cafe with her stuff. Conner turns to Ethan and shrugged his shoulders.

"Alright." He rubs his hands together nervously. "Here goes nothing..." Conner turns back around, and to his surprise, find that she was no longer there.

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**A/N:** Good? Bad? Let me know if I should continue...


	2. Can't Hide

**A/N:** Yay! Thanks for the reviews! You guys _rock_ as always! Enjoy.

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Chapter 2

**"Can't Hide" **

First period class has ended. Dr. Oliver's students began packing up at the sound of the bell as others stayed glued to their seats to finish up the test. Ethan and Kira both finished in time as they handed their test in. "Boy, that was easy." Ethan blurted out.

Dr. O smiles, "Glad to hear that. So what did you think of it, Kira?"

She gives him an uncertain impression of what she thought of it. "It was okay, although I could have done more studying on the material if it weren't for Ethan and Conner."

"Don't forget Trent."

Kira shot him an evil glance when suddenly Conner turned his paper in to Dr. Oliver shortly after. He rubbed his fatigue eyes and grunted. "Dude, that was hard. I only wrote like two paragraphs on the essay question."

"It's better than leaving it blank, Conner. You still get credit for what you've written, but not full credit."

"Whatever. All I know is that I bombed that test."

"A little more studying wouldn't hurt."

"Yeah, Conner." Kira couldn't agree more with Ethan. "If you'd just kept your hormones out the door, I'm sure you could have done much better."

Dr. Oliver quickly turns away. "Okay, I sure didn't need to hear that. Get out of here." They laughed.

"Later, Dr. O."

"Take it easy, guys."

"Bye."

The three stood outside the hallway, as students begin rushing to get to their second period class. Conner, Ethan, and Kira exchange looks before parting ways. "See ya."

--------------------------

"Hey, Dustin." Tori found him sitting on a rock after another day's worth of teaching at the Wind Ninja Academy. He looks up and forced a smile as he moves over to leave room for Tori to sit on. She took a seat right next to him as they view the lovely scenery of Blue Bay Harbor from the top of a hill. "So..." Tori looks at him from the corner of her eyes after a moment of awkward silence. "How was class?"

Dustin weakly shrugged his shoulders, obviously not in the mood for a small talk, but knowing Tori, he wasn't going to get away with it. "Same as always, Tor."

She nodded her head bewilderedly and noticed his eyes were fixated on something down below the hill. Tori smiles mischievously when she figured he was looking down at Marah and Kapri, doing some extra training in their ninja uniforms and pulling off a few great moves they learned that day. "Uh huh." She moved her head back, grinning. "So I'm guessing from your moody behavior that you haven't told her yet."

Dustin groans while taking his eyes off of them for a moment to look directly at Tori. "What is there to tell?"

"It's been a year, Dustin. I think it's about time that you and Marah come clean with your feelings for each other."

"Yeah, but what if she doesn't feel the same way about me?"

"You kidding?" Tori places a hand on his shoulder for reassurance. "Dustin, trust me on this. There's not a time where I never caught Marah staring at you whenever you walk by. She feels bad enough for betraying your trust."

He chuckles, thinking back on the incident. "Oh that. Dude, I put that stuff way behind me a long time ago."

"Then let her know, Dustin."

He sincerely smiles her way. "Alright, enough about me. What about you?"

Tori's eyebrows furrowed. "What about me?"

"Well, I want to see you happy too."

She was taken by surprise. "I am happy, Dustin and stop changing the subject."

"I know, but I mean I want you to be happily in love with someone." Tori chuckled at the thought. "I'm serious. I always thought something was going to happen between you and Blake."

"But it didn't."

Dustin looks down shamefully. "Look, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to bring it up."

"It's fine. I'm completely over it."

"Are you sure?" She nods her head reassuringly. "Okay, in that case we need to get you a boyfriend."

Tori scoffs. "What?! You did not just say that."

"Hey, it's that or we set you up on a date with..." He trails off with a scratch to the head. "Let's say...Kyle or Eric."

Tori raises an eyebrow. "Those two?" She says in disgust. "Why?"

Dustin plasters a bewildered look. "What? When was the last time you dated? Besides, they happen to find you highly attractive, you know." He adds with a playful smirk that Tori knew all too well. "But who doesn't?"

She nods disapprovingly. "I don't think so. They remind me too much of you and Shane." Tori adds with a shudder. Dustin glares at her for the crude comment when suddenly Shane comes walking up the hill towards their direction. The two look up and welcomed him.

He smiles. "What's up, guys?"

"Dude, did you know what Tori said?" Dustin gets his attention while keeping his eyes glared to her. "We remind her so much of Kyle and Eric."

"What?!" Shane shrieks offensively as he turns his gaze over to the blonde.

"Back then, yeah! But you've guys changed. We all have."

Dustin nods while scratching the top of his head. "Well...she does have a point. I mean, we were kind of dumb back then."

Tori rolls her eyes. "Speak for yourself, Dustin."

"Dude."

Shane chuckles. "Whatever. I could use a drink by now. What do you guys say?"

"Can't argue with that." They face Tori as she winks at them with an idea in mind.

"I know just the place."

--------------------------

"Is anyone worried that Mesogog and his alien freaks haven't attacked the city for weeks now?" Kira questions as she, Conner, Ethan, and Trent made their way inside Hayley's Cyberspace Cafe, which has become a daily routine for them whenever class ended.

Ethan chuckles. "Yeah, and that's a bad thing?" He stated in sarcasm.

"Dude, I agree. I can use the break from getting my butt kicked." Conner blurts out.

"But that's not the case here. What if he and Elsa are planning something big?"

"Yeah, but Dr.O and Hayley would let us know if something was wrong." Trent reassures her.

"Look, as long as they're not attacking the city, don't asks anymore questions."

Kira sighs. "Alright. Whatever you say." They all sat down at a table in silence when Ethan immediately excused himself to use the laptops. Bored as usual, Conner begins roaming his eyes around the room to find something active to do besides tossing a red soccer ball in midair when suddenly he spotted three people sitting on the couch they use to occupy. To his surprise, it was nonetheless their ninja friends Shane, Dustin, and Tori.

"Guys, look." Trent and Kira were force to pause with their own discussion to look his way. "It's them!"

Kira grunts quite irritably due to his mere excitement. "Gee, that's great. Two days in a row." She responds out of sarcasm. "Today is definitely your lucky day." Trent looked at her. "Why don't you stop being a wuss and go up to her this time?"

"Okay, maybe I will and for you information, I am not a wuss."

Trent stares awkwardly between the two.

"Go for it."

"Indeed, I will." Conner rises up from his seat and started heading casually to their direction. "Like now." With her back turned to Trent, Kira watches on intently. "You seem a bit jealous." He whispers with a teasing smirk. She turns around to face him.

"Jealous?! Me?" Kira blurts out in disbelief. "Right. Uh huh. Yeah. Sure."

"You sound like it too."

"Trent, I am not jealous." She groans offensively. "I mean, why would I be?"

He shrugged. "I don't know, you tell me."

--------------------------

"Dude, I can't believe you guys are here." Conner exclaims after exchanging a quick handshake with Shane. Without making his actions seem obvious, he sits down on a small table in front of them and steals a quick glance of the blonde beauty. She smiles at him in return.

"Well Tori insist that we come here, and I have to admit, this place is so awesome!" Dustin comments enthusiastically.

"Oh yeah." Shane couldn't agree with him more as he takes another sip of his drink and a big bite off his cheeseburger. "Great food too."

Tori chuckles. "See I told you. We gotta bring Hunter and Cam next time.

"Oh, how are those guys by the way?" Conner asks curiously.

"They're doing fine; busy as usual." She answers.

"And Blake?"

Tori shrugged her shoulders. "Pretty much winning motorcross championships around the globe."

"Wow."

"Oh yeah." She looked at her watch as soon as the alarm went off. All eyes turn to her. "Oh perfect! I still have time to hit the water before sunset."

Conner raised an eyebrow. "Hit the water?"

"Yeah, to go surfing. Haven't done that in awhile."

"You surf?" He asks surprisingly.

She nods with a smile. "Uh huh."

"And she rocks at it." Dustin added when suddenly Trent, Kira, and Ethan joins them. The former wind rangers all greeted them with friendly handshakes while getting up from the couch. "Ah, you guys decide to join us right when we were about to leave."

"What? Already?" Ethan frowns. "But we just got here."

"Yeah, sorry.We have a lot of work to get done at Storm Chargers anyway."

"Storm Chargers?" Kira questions.

"Yeah, it's an action sports store. I don't work there." Tori responded. "But it's a nice hang out spot."

"Oh. Cool." Awkward silence suddenly took its course as they exchange bewildered looks.

"Well, it was nice seeing you guys." Shane, Dustin, and Tori began heading out.

"Will you guys be stopping by again tomorrow?" Conner asks hopefully.

They shrugged while looking over their shoulder. "Maybe. We'll have to convince Cam and Hunter to come along first."

"Cool. Um...tell them I said hi."

"We will. See you guys, later."

"Yeah, bye." Ethan, Trent, and Kira waved off in unison as they watch them walk out the door. All eyes then shift over to the guy in red as he stares off into space like a love struck little boy.

"So what did you guys talk about?" Ethan asks, as Conner remains transfixed to their direction, even though they were already gone."Um hello?" He waves a hand in front of him to grab his attention as the others chuckled. "Conner!"

"Huh?" He finally snaps out of it and turns to him. "What?"

"Well?"

Conner shook his head. "Oh. Not much...we just talked about life in general." He grins. "Did you know that Tori surfs?"

"No." Ethan was taken by surprise. "So she's athletic and cute?"

"Oh yeah and sweet too."

Kira rolls her eyes, completely annoyed with their constant rambling about Tori as if they could go on and on for hours, and even days with the same things all over again. Not that she has anything against the blonde, it just gets tiring after awhile when it is all they could ever talk about. _'What happened to soccer and boring computer games?'_ _She thought_, hoping that Conner and Ethan would somehow jump to a different topic they seem to enjoy the most, aside from chicks.

"Are you okay?" Trent asks worriedly due to her ill at ease gesture.

She turns to him and forced a smile. "Yeah. I'm fine."

"Are you sure? Because I'm not entirely convince that you are alright."

"What do you mean?"

"I think you know." Puzzled, Kira searches his eyes carefully. "Anyway, Hayley needs my help. Let me know if you need anything."

"But Trent--"

She noticed that he could barely even look at her as he tries to avoid her gaze. "We'll talk later."

Kira sighs as she turns back around where Conner was standing. "What was that all about?" He asks once Trent started taking orders nearby. She nodded her head in dismay, refusing to discuss anything personal with Conner.

"It's nothing."

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**A/N:** Review please.


	3. Misunderstandings

**A/N:** Song/Lyrics Kelly Clarkson -** "You Found Me"**

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Chapter 3

**"Misunderstandings"**

It was around midday, and close to sunset when Hunter received an unexpected phone call from Blake. He took a break from all his paperwork as the conversation went on for an hour. They discussed current happenings with the Thunder Ninja Academy and the crazy life as a factor rider. While being taken by surprise with their small talks, Blake continues on bragging about his current girlfriend named Irish.

"She reminds me of Tori." He stated all of a sudden. "Gorgeous and dangerous. The only difference is Irish has red hair."

Hunter chuckled despite the way things ended between his brother and Tori. But it was nice to hear that Blake has finally found someone he could possibly commit to in a long run. "She sounds hot, bro."

"Yeah, well next time I'll let you two meet. Anyway, I have to go. I'm hooking Jesse up with a hot date and I don't want to keep him waiting. Talk to you later."

"Take care, bro." Hunter hangs up the phone and kneels back comfortably on his chair. It has been another exhausting day of teaching when suddenly Leanne comes walking in his office. He looks up and grunted after being rudely disturbed. "Dude, what happened to knocking?"

"Oh, didn't you hear? It was so last season." Hunter rolls his eyes. "Anyway, there's a phone call waiting for you in line one."

He yawns tiredly. "Who is it?"

"Dustin."

"Okay. Thanks, Leanne." She nods slightly before leaving the room. Hunter picks up the phone.

"Yeah. Hello."

"Yo, Hunter." Dustin spoke from the other line. Hunter rubbed his eyes as he held the phone to his neck and typed a few keys onto the computer. "A bunch of us are going to the movies and we thought you want to come with."

He looks at his watch and grunted at the time. It was already seven. "Now? Dude, I have stacks of papers to fill out."

"Can't you use some time off? I mean how often do we get to hang out together? Come on, it'll be fun."

"I don't know, man..."

"Hunter, you've been sitting there for hours. Just go!" Another voice interfered into their conversation as a bewildered look spread across his face. "I can take it from here."

Hunter groans once he recognized the voice. "Leanne, get off the phone!"

"Okay. Bye!" She giggles and hangs up. He sighs with Dustin still hanging on the other line.

The goofball chuckles. "Cool! Meet us in front of the theatre by eight. See you there, dude."

---------------------

Dustin hangs up the phone and turns to Tori. "So is he coming?" She asks.

"Oh yeah."

"Good." Tori walks over and hands him the phone. "Now all you have to do is make one more phone call."

Dustin gives her a disorientated look. "Who else are we inviting?"

"We? _You_ are gonna call Marah and invite her to come along." She smiles.

"What?!"

"Don't be a wuss, Dustin. You know you want her to go."

"I am not a wuss!" He argues back offensively. "I'm just--"

"Nervous?"

"Yeah!" Dustin shook his head. "I mean no!"

Tori crosses her arms and smirks. "It's okay to be nervous. It doesn't have to be a date. I mean how could it be when it's a bunch of us guys right?"

He shrugged. "Yeah, I guess."

"Come on." She places the phone down on his lap. "Just call her."

---------------------

Class has already ended as Kira sat on a bench in front of the school, strumming her guitar and waiting for Ethan to show. Meanwhile, Conner slowly walks up behind the singing diva in attempt to surprise her, but stopped as she sings softly and beautifully to herself.

**_is this a dream_**

**_if it is_**

**_please don't wake me from this high_**

**_i'd become_**

**_Comfortably numb_**

**_until you opened up my eyes_**

**_to what it's like_**

**_when everything's right_**

**_oh i can't believe _**

**_you found me_**

**_when no one else was looking_**

**_how did you know just where i would be_**

**_yeah you broke through all of my confusions_**

**_the ups and the downs and you still didn't leave_**

**_i guess that you saw what nobody could see_**

**_you found me_**

"Wow." Conner whispers breathlessly as Kira looks over her shoulder and finds him kneeling against a tree with his arms crossed. "That was beautiful."

She took out a curly strand of hair away from her mouth and smiles nervously. "I didn't know anyone was watching." Kira says, getting up.

"Oh...I didn't mean for you to stop. I was just heading over to Principle Randall's office."

"Why?"

He shrugs it off. "Detention."

"Again?" She chuckled quite amusingly. "That's four days in a row, Conner. What did you do this time?"

"I arrived in class two seconds later after the last bell. _Two seconds_ and Ms. Carter gave me detention for being late." He said furiously. "Isn't that lame?"

Kira nods. "Totally."

"Well, if it isn't my two favorite people in the world." Ethan exclaims out of sarcasm as he comes in to interrupt their moment. He places his arms around them as he turns over to Conner, and then Kira. "So you guys ready to work on the science project, lab partners?" He questioned as Conner and Kira exchanged weird glances. Ethan stood back with a bewildered look. "What?"

"The project isn't due till like next month, dude."

"Yeah. So?"

"So...usually_ normal_ kids wait till the last minute." Conner joked as Kira slapped him on the arm for the comment. "Ow!"

Ethan rolls his eyes. "Wouldn't you rather get it over with? Oh wait, why did I even ask? You don't even do your work."

Kira snickers silently to herself as Conner beams coldly at him. "I, for one thing, don't like the idea of cramming when final exams are just around the corner." She added to break the tension. "Besides, it's an easy project. We can always go to Dr. O's for help."

"Thank you. At least someone here cares about how important this project is, which by the way is 20 of our grade. It makes a difference when you're lying on the border."

"Whatever." Conner muttered in defeat, feeling rather out of place. "I'll meet you guys at Hayley's later."

"Have fun in detention."

He looks over his shoulder with a sarcastic look. "Gee, thanks."

---------------------

An hour has passed once Hunter arrived in front of the movie complex where Shane, Cam, Kapri, and Marah were patiently waiting for the others. He joins them shortly after as Tori and Dustin made their way over to them not too long ago. Everyone greeted Hunter with friendly handshakes and hugs--being the only guy not associated with the Wind Ninja Academy.

"I'm glad you can make it."

Hunter scratches the back of his neck. "Yeah, man." He smiles. "It's been awhile. I missed you guys."

"So do I get a thank you for letting you out early?" Dustin suggested.

Hunter looks up to think. "Uh let see...what about no?" He replies jokingly. "Nah, I actually could use a break." He says while rubbing his fatigue eyes. "My new students are driving me nuts nowadays."

Shane scoffs. "Dude, I know how you feel."

"How's Blake? Have you heard from him?" Cam asks all of a sudden.

"Actually, we did talk on the phone earlier." Hunter grins. "He arrived in Canada a few days ago. Did you guys know he has a new girlfriend? Her name is Irish." Everyone exchange awkward looks as all eyes turn to Tori. Hunter didn't realize she was there as the blonde beauty lowers her head to avoid their gazes. "Oh...umm..." He stammers on his words nervously while looking at her. "I didn't mean to bring it up. I'm sorry." Hunter shamefully apologizes.

"It's fine." Tori brings her head up and smiles forcefully for their sake. Hunter grimaced as she chuckled, looking at him. "Stop it already. Really, it's no big deal. Let's just pick a movie, okay?" Tori wanted to get off the topic before anyone begins feeling sorry for her. However, Hunter felt bad enough already for bringing it up the first place. The last thing he wanted was to ruin anyone's night, especially when they put the trouble to plan a day off.

"So...what do you guys want to watch?" Dustin asked to break the long silence.

No one answered as Tori brushes her hair back frustratingly. Although she had moved on by now, the news was secretly driving her crazy. "Actually, umm...you guys go ahead." They give each other puzzled looks. "I think I'm gonna go for a walk."

"But--"

"Save me a seat, okay?" Tori turned around and begins walking off by herself into the dark. Looking her way, Hunter sighs deeply.

"No." The dirty blonde stops Dustin from going after her as he grabbed his arm. "Let me talk to her. I brought it up. Save me a seat, and we'll be right in."

He nods and pats him on the back. "Alright. Good luck, man."

"Thanks."

---------------------

**_so here we are _**

**_and that's pretty far_**

**_when you think of where we've been_**

**_no going back_**

**_i'm fading out_**

**_all that has faded me within_**

**_you're by my side _**

**_now everything's fine_**

**_i can believe_**

**_i was hiding _**

**_till you came along_**

**_and showed me where i belong_**

Ethan gradually looks up from his science book as Kira continues to sing and play the guitar nearby. He rolls his eyes and grunted in annoyance as she repeated the second verse a few times till it reached perfection. But once she got to the point where she wasn't going to stop anytime soon, Ethan dropped his pencil and stared directly at her. "Yeah umm that sounds real great, Kira but I'm trying to concentrate here."

"Oh." She stops and places her guitar aside. "Sorry. I was just working on a new song."

"When you should be working on the science project instead?" Ethan said out of paranoia. Kira's eyes furrowed. "Look, I'm sorry." He sighed. "I just hate being the guy who does all the work."

"If you just give your group members a chance and trust them with the work, then maybe you wouldn't have to feel that way." She averts from his gaze when suddenly Trent approaches their table with Ethan's order of lemonade.

"Here you go, man." He places the drink in front of him.

"Thanks."

"So how's the project coming along?" Trent asks as he stole a quick glance of Kira. She too stared at him from the corner of her eyes.

"Barely even started." Ethan grunted as Kira takes out her binder and begins working for his sake.

He nods. "Well, I'll leave you two alone then. Good luck with it."

Kira looks up and watches Trent walk off. They haven't spoken since yesterday, and she wanted to continue where they left off. "Be right back." She excused herself from the table and follows him not too far behind. "Hey, Trent."

He turns around and smiles her way. "Yeah?"

"Can we talk?"

"Sure." Trent places the tray down on the table and folded his arm to listen. "What's up?"

"About yesterday..."

"Oh, that?" He chuckles. "Forget about it, Kira. I wasn't sure what I was thinking."

She arches her brow. "What were you thinking?"

"It's nothing. Really it isn't. I was just worried."

"Why?" She asks curiously.

"You weren't being yourself yesterday. It seemed like you were..." He trails off to come up with the right words. "Well...jealous."

"Jealous?" She chuckled. "Why would I be?" Kira questions all of a sudden with an offensive tone.

He shrugged. "I don't know. Were you?"

"No."

"Well, okay then. I was wrong. And just for the record, you should never feel jealous. You're as beautiful, smart, and talented as she is. But better." He adds with a wink.

Kira looks away in pleased embarrassment. "Gee...thanks. So we're cool then?"

Trent smiles. "Definitely."

---------------------

Meanwhile, Hunter continues to follow Tori as he leaves a gap between the two of them before making the right approach. He didn't want her to suspect that she was being followed, although it was no secret that she was. Once Tori stopped in front of a record store, she took a seat on a nearby bench and sighed deeply to herself. Hunter looked down and casually caught up to her to make his move.

"Hey."

The blonde looks up and forced a weak smile. "Why aren't you inside with them?" She asks while averting from his gaze.

Hunter slowly takes a seat on the other end of the bench, getting the picture that she wants to be left alone. "I didn't want you wandering all by yourself in the dark, and I figured that you wanted company." He lied.

Tori chuckled at the thought, knowing Hunter that is. "Yeah right."

He bit his lip. "You're not completely over him are you?"

She shot him a glance. "What makes you think that?"

"The way you just walked off after telling everyone."

Tori brushes her hair back and grunted irritably. "Look, I've said this many times before. I moved on, Hunter. And to be truthfully honest, I'm glad he found someone else. It's just that—"

He tilts his head once she paused in mid sentence. "What, Tor?"

"I'm scared, okay." Tori admits rather shamefully.

"Scared?" Hunter wrinkled his forehead. "Of what?"

She shifts her gaze over to him as their eyes met. "Of being alone."

"What?!"

Tori groans due to his abrupt response. "Never mind."

"No. I mean…I'm just surprised you would say that."

"Why?"

He shrugged, not knowing where to start. "Well, you're gorgeous, smart, athletic, and tough. Who _wouldn't _want you?"

Tori looks at him and smirks. "_You_."

* * *

**A/N:**Want more? Review.


	4. Long Wait Ends

**A/N:** I apologize if it took me so long to update. Final exams got in the way, and my grades really depended on it. Because of that, I suffered a bit from writer's block as well. But now that it's over with, enjoy the next chapter and keep sending those reviews! Thanks.

* * *

Chapter 4

**"Long Wait Ends"**

"That blue wind ranger will get a taste of her own medicine for ever crossing my path!" Elsa snarls evilly after another upsetting defeat a few weeks ago. She viewed the tape of the dino and wind rangers working together and successfully destroying Lothor's army and putting an end to Mesogog's evil plans. She rewinds it back to where the yellow dino ranger and the blue wind ranger double-teamed on her. Elsa narrows her eyes and turns it off at the sight of defeat. "I've seen enough."

"Don't just stand there." Mesogog hissed quite dreadfully from his throne. "Do something about it."

Elsa turns to her master as he slowly steps down. "Yes, my lord."

"My patience are running low, and you better not fail me again this time, Elsa." His voice sounded deadly. "Get rid of her."

She smiles. "With pleasure, master."

-----------------------------

"You all did a great job." Dustin compliments his earth students of about nine as he puts them at attention after hours of training. They were breathing heavily and grunting in agonizing pain as he walks back and forth in front of them. "Although I kicked all your butts within less than a minute this time," he adds with a cocky smile, "I am impressed with the effort and improvement you've shown in the last couple of days. It's something to be proud of." He looks up and unexpectedly finds Hunter waiting close by. Dustin nods while turning back to his students. "Think about what just happened here, and we'll continue tomorrow where we left off. Class dismissed." They bowed respectably before parting ways. "Hunter," he begins walking towards him, "what are you doing here?" The two did their little handshake and ended it with a one-arm hug.

He stood back and smiles. "Well, Sensei Omino wanted me to pick something up from Cam and when I was about to leave I ran into you and your students. I didn't want to just walk in the middle of class, and interfere."

"Oh. Okay, dude. That's no problem. Since you're already here, do you want to crab a bite or something?"

"Actually," Hunter trails off and scratches the back of his head, "I was wondering if you know where Tori is."

"She should be done with class by now. Why you ask?"

"I just want to speak with her."

Dustin nods. "Is she still...you know," he stops and nudges his shoulder, "bummed out about Blake and his new girlfriend?"

Hunter chuckles. "Nah...I think she's upset that I even mentioned it, which is why I need to speak with her and apologize."

"Isn't she over it by now?"

"Yeah...but I still feel bad about it and we haven't spoken since that night."

As they stood on the middle of the woods discussing random things about both academies, streaks of blue, pink, and orange light zipped right past them as they paused into their conversation and followed it with their eyes. Suddenly, Tori, Marah, and Kapri appeared out of nowhere as they continue their sparing nearby. Hunter and Dustin watched on as Kapri and Marah double-teamed on Tori. The pinkhead attempted a roundhouse kicked as Tori blocked and leg sweeps Marah down to the ground. "Chyah! Ha!" Tori jolted back up and blocked one of Kapri's shots and flip her over, knocking Marah down as well with a kick to the stomach. The former blue wind ranger stood at a fighting stance, as two of her misfit students struggled to get up. Just then, another streak of blue came into view as a blonde sneaks behind Tori with a cheap shot to the back. Tori stumbled forward as she grabbed a hold of both arms behind. Marah and Kapri shuffled to their feet to take this 3 on 1 advantage into high gear when suddenly Tori retaliated and easily releases herself from Tally's grip. Tori flipped over her head and landed on the ground in a fighting stance as she motions her arms to call forth the command of water. The three froze and looks on wide-eyed as their sensei shoots water at them. "Hiya!" Marah, Kapri, and Tally stood still as they motioned their arms the same way to create the flow of water. Before they even know it, water was shooting in both directions. Dustin and Hunter watched on in amazement as both powers clashed and disappeared. A genuine smile appeared on Tori's face as she walked towards her students.

Bewildered, the three women exchanged looks. "Whoa...did that just happen?" Marah questions as Tori made her way towards them. They stood at attention before any of them could answer.

"Good job, ladies. You finally did it. You used your inner ninja to command the power of water. Congratulations."

Kapri arches her brow surprisingly. "Wow. I guess we did."

"No kidding." Tally adds.

"You may leave. Class dismissed."

The girls bowed to Sensei Tori and parted ways. She then turns around to greet Dustin and Hunter. "Hey, guys." Tori turns her gaze over to the dirty blonde in bewilderment due to his unexpected appearance. "What brings you here?"

"Oh." Hunter looks down at the scrolls he was holding. "Umm, just picking up a few things."

Marah approaches Dustin. "You ready to go?"

Tori and Hunter exchange looks. He smiles. "Yeah. Whenever you are." Dustin turns to his friends. "I'll catch you two later."

They smirked playfully. "Have fun."

Tori waves off to them before facing Hunter. "So..." She places her hands behind her back once Dustin and Marah disappeared through the portal towards the waterfall.

They were now alone as he smiles awkwardly. "Yeah...so..."

"You were saying?"

"Oh." He shook his head and chuckles. "Yeah, umm can we talk?"

She furrowed her eyebrows. "Sure. What about?"

"Blake." Tori grunted at the sound of his name. It's been months now since their feelings for one another have died out and she was getting fed up with her friends for mentioning the subject. Not that they were doing it in purpose because most of the time his name comes out of nowhere, but it was quite obvious to her that they weren't exactly convinced that she has moved on by now. "I mean," Hunter was caught off guard in mid sentence, "what we talked about a few nights ago. I meant what I said. You are a strong, talented, and gorgeous woman. Any guy would be lucky to have you, I'm just not the one..."

"Hunter, it's okay." She reassured him as she tucked a few strands behind her ear. "I was joking. I know what you meant."

"Oh." He bit his lip. "So no hard feelings then?"

Tori smiles. "Of course not. After all, you aren't exactly my type."

He scoffs exaggeratedly at the comment. "Is that how it is?"

"Oh yeah."

"Okay, I see. Just one more thing though." He smirks.

"What?"

"Who is that hot blonde chick that nearly kicked your butt?"

"You mean Tally?" Tori chuckled in disbelief.

"Yeah! She's hot." He grins.

Tori rolls her eyes. "I'm not surprise. You think every girl is hot."

"Besides you." She drops a jaw. "Nah, I'm kidding." He smiles playfully as he nudged her shoulder. The blonde gives him the evil eye. "What? Lighten up, dude."

"You didn't just come here to insult me did you?"

Hunter thought about it for a moment as he tilt his head to the side. "No, just to annoy you."

She grunted irritably and crossed her arms. "Weren't you about to leave?"

"Fine." He struts his way towards the waterfall, knowing he did his part to drive her to insanity. Hunter stopped dead in his tracks to look over his shoulder. "Call me." He joked.

Tori nodded her head in dismay. "Same ole Hunter." She thought with a small laugh as he disappeared through the portal. Tori went back inside the school's main building to pick up the remainder of her belongings before spending the rest of the day at the beach. She greeted a few students along the way before reaching the exit, where she was last seen.

----

"That's right, Blondie." Elsa grins maliciously while staring at the monitor screen. She watched as the former blue wind ranger walked towards her blue van. "Yes...fall into my trap."

_Moments later..._

After school, Kira stopped by at a music store to pick up a few music sheets. Just as she was browsing through acoustic guitars, her communicator suddenly went on. "Well, that's a first." She thought as she hid behind a room for employees only. Kira looks around to make sure the coast was clear before responding. "Yeah?" She answered.

"Kira, it's Conner. Something bad has happened."

"Let me guess. Elsa and the rest of Mesogog's freaks finally decide to crash the party?"

"Worst. There's been a car accident."

"Car accident?"

"Ethan and I are at the crash sight. Meet us at Dr. O's as soon as you can."

She nods. "Alright, I'm on my way." Kira walked out when suddenly one of the employees of the music store blocked her way. "Whoa. Sorry." She said sheepishly.

The big guy crossed his arms. "What were you doing in there?"

"Oh...umm...I was just looking for the bathroom."

He looks at her weirdly. "Uh, it's over there."

Kira acted dumb as she stares at the direction he was pointing at. "Oh." She chuckles pathetically. "Thanks."

"No problem."

As she makes her way to the restroom, the singer looks over her shoulder to make sure he left. Once he entered the _employees' only_ room, she took the opportunity to exit the store and find a way to get to Dr. Oliver's. Once Kira stepped outside, tyranodrones appeared from behind. To her surprise, she turns around in her fighting stance and gasps. "Whoa. Hey!" Mesogog's creatures began swarming all over her, making it difficult for the yellow dino ranger to fight them all at once. Kira tried hanging on while throwing a few punches and kicks to break free. "Hiya! Ha!" This continued on for awhile until suddenly there was not much left to do as more appeared from the portal. "No! Let go!" Kira beings losing self control as Tyranodrones held her back. It was already too late to call for help as they disappeared through the dark green portal without any witnesses.

---

Ethan turns his gaze over to Conner from the passenger seat. He contacted Kira a few moments ago as they wait patiently in his red car. "So...what do we do now?" He asks as Conner looks straight ahead to where the accident took place. The van was now in bad condition as it crashed against a tree.

"We should see if anyone's in there and hope they're okay."

Ethan nods his head. "Alright, I'm with yah."

They slowly stepped out of the vehicle and walked cautiously towards the blue van. "Oh man. You think the driver lost control of the wheel?" Ethan suggested as he noticed tire marks on the road.

"I don't know." Puzzled, Conner stops dead in his tracks and looks on wide eyed. "Wait, look."

Once they've reached the driver's side, the windows were shattered into pieces and wrecked doors bust open as they discovered no one was in the vehicle.

* * *

_Dun. Dun. Dun!_


	5. Vengeance Part 1

**A/N:** Your review is beyond motivational. Thanks again and I hope you enjoy the next chapter.

* * *

Chapter 5

**"Vengeance Part 1"**

"Dr. O!" Conner and Ethan arrived moments after as they made their way down the first floor of his home. Hayley, Tommy, and Trent turned away from the computer as they make their entrance.

"You guys alright?" Dr. O asks worriedly.

Conner slumps down as he rested his arm on Ethan's shoulder to catch his breath. "Dr. O..." He breathed heavily. "N-No one was--in the vehicle."

Tommy turns around and stares at Hayley in mere disbelief. "That's not good." He muttered. She turns around to get right on it.

"Did you find out who the owner is?" Ethan asks as he walks over to them.

Hayley nodded in dismay. "No, but I was able to track down the license plate number." She turns back to the computer and typed in a few keys as they surround her at the table. "I'm afraid Mesogog is behind all this."

Trent wrinkles his forehead. "Why you say that? For all we know it could have been just an accident."

"Because the vehicle was purchased in Blue Bay Harbor. You see?" Hayley zooms in as the computer screen reveals the license plate number. "I'm tracking down the owner of the vehicle, but the information isn't processing at the moment and the system could be locked."

Conner slightly drops a jaw. "Do you think Mesogog is after one of the wind rangers?"

"That's a possibility, Conner. But we're not sure. Trent may be right. It could be anyone at this point." Dr. Oliver informs him.

Ethan angled his body towards Hayley as she continues to find a way to unlock the system. "Do you think maybe it's a good time to contact Cam and see what's up?"

She nods. "Good idea."

"Wait a minute," Conner roams his eyes, searching the room, "where's Kira?" He turns around and facesTrent. "Where is she?"

-----

Upon their arrival in Mesogog's evil lair, Tyranodrones appeared from the portal as Kira resume struggling to break free. She calmed herself once she recognized the dark, wide hallway, which she escaped from before. As Mesogog's evil creatures continue to drag her along towards sliding doors made of solid steel, Kira made her move as she used her all and flipped over them to release their grip. "Hiya!" The yellow dino ranger landed in her fighting stance as she used her sonic scream to slow them down. Once they had fallen, Kira looks over her shoulder, smiling mischievously as she ran towards the dark green portal. Kira turns back around and stopped when a figure stood in front of her. "Whoa!"

"And where do you think you're going?" It was a female's voice that sounded cold and dreadful.

Kira goes back into her fighting stance and smirks. "Leaving this dump. But thanks for the invitation." She replies out of sarcasm.

The figure stood still in the darkness. "I'm afraid that's not going to happen." It said quite seriously as it stepped forward under the light to reveal herself. "You'll have to get through me first."

Kira's eyes grew larger. She couldn't believe whom she was seeing. "Tori?"

-----

It wasn't too long ago when Shane, Dustin, and Hunter received the call from Cam through their small communicating devices. Unfortunately, they had change of plans, which ruined the rest of their day off. After a brief moment, they arrived and promptly followed the steps down to Ninja Ops. Cam turned away from his father and their important discussion as the three made their entrance.

"Sup, Cam?" The infamous goofball stepped up first as if he were getting ready for action back in their ranger days.

Former green Samurai ranger heaved a deep, helpless sigh in response. "I'm afraid we have some bad news." Shane, Dustin, and Hunter gave each other disorientated looks and listened carefully. "The computer systems are locked. There's no way to access them."

The head teacher of the Thunder Ninja Academy wrinkled his forehead. "You called us over because of a computer problem?"

"No. It's much more than that." Cam grunted as he fixed his glasses. "I received word from Hayley and it looks like she's having the same problem. But she said we must get to Dr. Oliver's before she can fill us in with more information. She believes Mesogog may be behind disfiguring the computers somehow so there will be no way to access them and communicate with the dino rangers."

Dustin scratches the top of his head. "Well, that doesn't sound too good."

"So what do you think we should do, Sensei?" Shane asks as he shifts his gaze over to him.

Their Sensei was caught off guard as he looks around the room, finally taking notice that something, or more like someone was missing. "Pardon me, but where's Tori?"

Puzzled, all eyes turn to Cam. "Yeah, where is she?"

"I've tried contacting her, but she's not picking up."

"Maybe Mesogog disabled the communicators."

"Impossible." Cam snaps. "I created them, so there's know way he could have done that. And plus, I was able to reach you."

"Well, keep trying anyway." Hunter suddenly took charge. "We'll meet with the dino rangers. Let us know if something goes up."

He nods. "I will and be careful."

-----

"Shouldn't she be here by now?" Conner thought worriedly once they figured Kira hasn't shown up since they last contacted her half an hour ago.

Ethan shrugged. "You know, women. They take forever." He stopped once Hayley turns around from her chair and gives him the evil eye. "Well, some do." Intimidated by Hayley, he gulps and faces Conner. "Try getting a hold of her again."

He grunted as he nears his morpher to his mouth. "Kira, you there?" They wait for a response. "Kira?" Conner nodded his head in dismay. "Nothing."

"That's weird." Trent looks up as they heard footsteps coming from behind them. They all turned around, only to be taken by surprise with the appearance of their ninja friends.

"Wow, that was fast." Hayley thought as they began greeting each other.

"Ninja streak remember?"

She rolls her eyes at Ethan. "Oh yeah. Right."

"I'm glad you guys can make it." Dr. Oliver exchange quick handshakes with them. "We're gonna need your help."

"Yeah. I was hoping we didn't have to meet again in a time like this." Dustin adds as he rubs the back of his neck. "Cam is like a super genius with computers and he wasn't able to get it running a few moments ago. Let alone, not being able to contact Tori."

"Wait a minute. Tori is missing too?" Conner questions in disbelief.

Hunter furrowed his eyebrows. "What do you mean missing?"

"We can't get a hold of Kira either. I think that's telling us something."

"Like what, Conner?"

He shrugged. "I don't know. But they could be in serious trouble."

"How can you be so sure?" Ethan asks. Dustin, Shane, and Hunter looked passed him as their gazes were set on the photo shown on the computer monitor.

"Hey, what's that?" Shane brushes Conner and Dr. Oliver's shoulders with his own as he abruptly walks past them. Dustin and Hunter followed.

"Dude!" The former yellow wind ranger points out while kneeling against the table. "That's Tori's van."

Hayley looks at him wide-eyed. "You're kidding."

"Um, no." He scoffs. "It's really her van."

Trent, Ethan, Conner, and Dr. O exchanged looks.

"Well, what happened?! Is she still in there?!" Shane and Hunter started throwing questions at them in unison as their eyes remained glued to the before and after shot of the van that Hayley captured.

"Don't worry. She wasn't in there. We've checked." Conner reassured them.

"The computer wasn't able to catch what happened before the accident, but right after. And unfortunately, her vehicle exploded a few moments ago." Hayley adds as she revealed them the wreckage. "It's still in flames before we know it."

The former rangers look on in disbelief. "How did she get herself into this mess the first place? She's usually cautious on the road."

"We don't know this for a fact if it was an accident or not, but I believe Mesogog has something to do with this. She's nowhere near the crash sight. He must've taken her somehow."

Hunter nodded his head. "This was no accident." Dustin muttered angrily with his eyes still transfixed onto the computer screen. "We have to find her and the freak who's responsible for this."

"But you can't." Conner protested before they even moved a single muscle. "You guys don't even have a chance against Mesogog or Elsa without your ranger powers."

"So what? That doesn't make us completely defenseless." Hunter argues back. "We're highly trained ninjas. We've been through this before."

"And so have I." Tommy Oliver includes himself to their conversation. "I've been a ranger long before you have and I know beforehand how it feels whenever a good friend of yours have been captured. Trust me, I know. But if we don't think this through, Mesogog could capture us all. There's just no way we can risk that."

Shane and Dustin nodded in agreement.

"Are you sure she wasn't in there?" Hunter questions anxiously while turning to Conner. "What if you didn't search thoroughly or something huh? She could have been hiding under the seats, or—or the back of the van!"

Conner raises his hands up in midair due to his paranoia. "Dude, relax. I've checked."

"Maybe not good enough." They were surprised with Hunter's sudden change of mood as silence filled the room. Shane pulls him to the side to talk privately amongst the others.

"Dude, what is wrong with you? We will find Tori. You of all people should know by now that she's capable of escaping from it all." He whispers.

"Yeah, but without her ranger powers? She could be in big trouble, Shane and it's all my fault."

He arches his brow. "Whoa, how is this your fault?"

Hunter looks down and sighed deeply as a distant shadow followed their footsteps. They continue wandering around the room without ever noticing. "I shouldn't have left her. If I stood around long enough to bug the heck out of her, this would never happen."

A familiar voice spoke weakly from behind as it grabbed their immediate attention. "Yeah, and you would've joined me in all the action."

* * *

**A/N:** Part 2 coming soon....


	6. Vengeance Part 2

**A/N:** Again, thanks for reviewing. I love you guys for it. We're halfway through with the story now. So enjoy!

* * *

Chapter 6

**"Vengeance Part 2"**

"Tori?!"

She smiles weakly in return as she stumbled her way down the steps of Dr. Oliver's ancient civilization base. Hunter was able to catch her in time before hitting the ground. "Oh man, are you okay?" Hunter asks worriedly as he situates her down on one of the stair steps. She slouches her body over and rested her head on his shoulder. Everyone else gathers around Tori as they noticed a deep cut on the side of her forehead. Hayley immediately got up to get the first aid kit to heal the wound.

"Tell us, Tori." Dustin urges for some answers as all eyes turn to her. Everyone in the room was relief to see that she was alright. "Tell us what happened."

She winced in pain and began parting her lips to speak. "I was driving, on my way to the beach..." She said so weakly, "when suddenly Elsa appeared out of nowhere. I was distracted so I had to pull over to the side. That's when I hit this big tree." Her eyes narrowed. "It was my mistake. I should have ran that witch over when I had the chance." Hunter smirked as everyone exchanges surprised glances. It was the first time anyone as heard her say such a thing that made her sound so violently vicious. But they knew all too well that she wasn't in the mood for small talk after everything she has been through in a single day.

"So what happened after that?" Conner asks as Hunter accepts the first aid kit from Hayley.

She brushes her hair back before answering. "Well, I hit my head against the steering wheel before the airbags came up. At that point I couldn't move. Elsa grabbed me from the driver's seat, and took me down. I tried defending myself, but she was too strong and I could barely walk."

"Listen." Tommy kneals down in front of her. "The important thing is that you're alright, and that you are safe."

"What did she want from you?" Ethan asked.

Tori nodded her head. "I don't know. All I remember is that I got beat." They continue to listen carefully. "I was knocked out cold for awhile and when I woke up she was gone. Then there was the explosion. I got away long enough to escape from it, then made my way over here."

Shane sighed in relief. "Well thank Goodness you're okay. You got us all you scared, especially Hunter." The skaterboy looked his way. "He started freaking out."

"Did not!" The dirty blonde crossed his arms. Dustin smirks playfully at him as the others chuckled.

"Oh yeah, dude. You were."

Tori faces him as his cheeks begin to turn a lighter shade of red. He looks at her with a weak and embarrassed smile. "I didn't think you'd care, Hunter." She joked.

"Yeah. Um sorry to ruin this greeting card moment," Conner interrupts, "but we still have to find Kira."

----------

"Tori..." Kira pants breathlessly while taking a few steps back in her fighting stance. The evil blonde grins maliciously as she follows her every move. "What do you think you're doing?"

Tori laughs. "To destroy you." She paused in mid sentence as she makes a fist to her side for preparation. "And for good this time!"

Kira nodded her head. "Oh no." She thought in disbelief. "What did they do to you?"

Tori stops and glares at her. "Enough talk!" Impatience filled her voice as Kira stood still in bewilderment. "Let's finish where we left off, shall we?" She slowly gets into her fighting stance.

Kira gulps nervously. "Do I even have a choice?"

There was a small pause as both women stared at each other carefully. Tension mounts when suddenly Tori makes the first move. "Hiya!" Kira ducks to the side and spun around with a backhand. "Ha!" Tori blocks as she swung her arm over the yellow dino ranger, but misses. She tried using the other, but was stopped when Kira grabbed both arms from behind and held it. Tori grunts in pain, as she was force to listen.

"You know," Kira started off while tightening her grip, "we could've worked this out if you weren't so stuck up!"

The blonde glares her way. "Is that all you got?!" Tori kicked her leg, now in full control as she twisted both arms under her grasp. Kira yelped painfully as she struggles to release her grip.

"Hey!" Kira flips over and leg sweeps her to the ground. Tori retaliates as she flips back up with a roundhouse kick to the stomach. "Whoa!" Kira falls back and looks on in horror.

"You're finished!"

"No, Elsa!" A dreadful voice spoke from behind as Tori's balled fistfroze in midair. "Not yet." Kira turns around once Mesogog appeared from a portal.

"Elsa?" She whispers while looking up. All of a sudden she was confused.

"But Master--"

"Do as I say, Elsa!" He snapped. "We must use her to get to the others."

She was force to obey as she slightly nodded her head. "Yes, my Lord."

----------

Hayley, Tommy, Conner, Ethan, Shane, and Dustin all surrounded the computer, leaving the other two off to their own world.

"Ouch!" Tori hissed once Hunter gently cleans off the cut on her forehead with a rag which consist of rubbing alcohol. "That hurt!"

He scoffs irritably as she continues to fidget. "Stop moving, will yah. I still have to put the band aid on." She calmed herself down and stood still has Hunter blew gently on the wound before placing the band aid over it. She looks up at him as he cups her face. "There." He winks. "All done."

She no longer feels pain as she smiles sweetly at him in return, followed by a vague whisper. "Thank you."

"Hey, guys." Dr. Oliver, Conner, Trent, and Ethan made their way over to them. "We must find Kira."

"Let us go with you." Shane insist on tagging along as Tommy turns his gaze over to Tori.

"I'm going too." She tells him directly, knowing all too well that she was going to be asked to stay due to her condition. "If Elsa shows up, I want a chance at her."

"But you're hurt!"

She searches Hunter's eyes carefully. "And our job is to protect, Hunter. I'm not going anywhere without a fight."

Stubborn as she is, he just nodded his head in defeat. "Okay. But can you walk?"

"Yes, dofus." She rolled her eyes while slowly getting up without his assistance. "I can walk."

Tommy places a hand on Tori's shoulder, keeping in mind that he can no longer talk her out of it. "Fine. But we must hurry."

----------

Ninja class sessions have ended, run by chosen leaders of each element. Kapri and Marah had nothing else to do for the remainder of the day as they stop by at Reefside to get something to eat

"Are you sure this is the place?" Kapri questions as she and Marah stood outside in front of Hayley's Cyberspace Cafe.

The lovely brunette nodded her head. "Uh huh. Dustin and Tori said so. Why?"

"I don't know." She shrugged as she watched young teenagers enter the building. "It just doesn't seem like a place that we'd go to."

Marah grunted, knowing exactly what she meant. "We're still as young and hip as they are, Kapri. We may not be in high school anymore, but still..." she lost her train of thought. "Ugh, come on. I'm hungry." Marah grabbed her hand and dragged her along a few steps behind.

A few moments later, the two walked inside, only to be greeted by a blonde stranger who they've seen before. "Hey!!!" Her eyes were fixated on Marah. "Have we met before?" Kapri turns to her sister quizzically.

"I think so. Were you at the track watching motorcross a couple of weeks ago?"

"Yeah! That was it!" She squeals excitedly. "My name is Cassidy. Cassidy Cornell. I'm a reporter."

"I'm Marah, and this is Kapri." The pinkhead waved pathetically.

"Oh." The blonde forced a fake smile before facing Marah again. She could care less about Kapri. "Anyway, you are so pretty! I just love your hair."

"Really? Because I like yours too!"

"Oh my God! Really?!"

"Yeah! Totally!"

Kapri rolled her eyes. "Oh, brother. Can we just order already?"

----------

Mesogog and Elsa, back in her original form, spoke nearby, leaving Kira still huddled up against a wall. As they continue to work out their evil plan, she looked over to the side and noticed that she was only a few feet away from the dark green portal. Without any of the two noticing, Kira sneakily begins crawling backwards in that direction.

"That Blue Wind Ranger was able to escape the explosion." Mesogog hissed while nearing Elsa's face. "Is that how your brilliant plan works?"

"She was completely defenseless!" She exclaimed. "I thought--"

"Excuses!" He interrupted her as his voice increased in volume. "Failure after failure, Elsa. I suggest you think of a way to stay alive before I take action. My patience are running dry." Elsa glares at him. "Now, take the yellow ranger and lock her up. We'll discuss your lack of success later."

"Yes, Master." She turns back and noticed the yellow dino ranger was no longer in her original position. Elsa's eyes widened as she looks straight ahead where the smirking diva stood.

"You guys are so horrible at this stuff. I suggest tying up your hostages next time." Kira smirked. "See ya!"

Elsa gasps. "NO!"

----------

_Meanwhile..._

"This the spot?" Ethan questions as they stopped at a deserted intersection, a few miles from Dr. Oliver's home.

"It sure is." Conner nods. The others followed his lead.

"So, what are we doing here?" Dustin asks as they stood on the middle of the road. Shane and Hunter exchanged bewildered looks and shrugged their shoulders in unison.

"Well," Conner folds his arms while looking up, "we're waiting for Kira to fall from the sky."

Tori stares weirdly at him and chuckles, "What?"

"It's true." Ethan fills her in. "It happened before. Trust me."

She turns to their teacher as he nodded his head. "I'm afraid so, Tori. As weird as it sounds, I was there."

Dustin and Tori share a funny look. "So wait a minute." He scoffs. "You expect us to just stand here and watch her fall from the sky?"

The red dino ranger nods. "Uh yeah. That's pretty much it."

"That's ridiculous." Tori thought with a chuckle. "How is that even possible?"

Everyone began looking up, and waiting patiently for it to happen. After a split second, Kira appeared from the dark green portal and landed face down on the ground. Tommy, Trent, Conner, and Ethan went to help her up as the rest watched on in disbelief.

Tori turns awkwardly to the guys. "Did...that...just...happen?" Shane, Dustin, and Hunter weren't able to reply, as their jaws remain dropped to the floor.

"Kira, you alright?" Conner was the first one to ask as she shuffled to her feet. Trent and the others waited anxiously for her answer.

"Yeah..." She responded vaguely, followed by a loud groan. "Just fine."

"What happened?!"

Kira nodded her head. "I'll tell you all about it later." She looks up ,and to her surprise, finds Tori standing in front of her. "You." Kira whispers breathlessly with a nasty glare.

"Me?" The blonde points to herself in a state of confusion.

"Stand back, guys. She could be an imposter."

Hunter chuckles. "What? Did you hit your head that hard?"

Kira ignored his comment as both women stood face to face. Tori looked more confused than ever as the others exchanged bewildered looks. Just then, Kira closed her eyes, arms at the side and used her sonic scream, sending Tori in the air and landing on the ground hard. The guys all covered their ears in pain.

"What the hell is going on?!" Dustin yelled out.

"I don't know, dude! My ears are hurting!"

"AHH! The torture!"

The dino rangers look on in disbelief with their ears covered as well. The sound was just too excruciating to handle. "Kira, stop this!"

Her sonic scream subsided as she came to a complete stop. The guys all exchanged looks as Dustin, Hunter, and Shane ran up to Tori's aid. "What has gotten into you?" Trent questioned furiously.

"She could be Elsa!"

"But she was attacked by Elsa."

Kira studied his face carefully. "Oh." She suddenly felt guilty. "My bad."

"Oh?!" The guys help Tori up as she stares evilly at Kira. "You deliberately attacked me and all you can say is an oh?"

"You were cloned and it attacked me in Mesogog's lair. How was I supposed to know? Sorry." The apology sounded a bit too forced as Tori started walking towards her. It was obviously not enough to let go of.

The blonde muttered with determination. "Oh you're asking for it."

"Hey." Shane stops her from walking any farther. "What do you think you're doing?"

Tori abrupty brushes his hand off her shoulder. "Stay away. It's between us girls." The guys backed off, knowing she wasn't playing any games.

"Uh oh." Ethan turns to his female friend. "I think she's pissed."

"Maybe a shower will you cool off!" Kira looks on wide-eyed. Her voice sounded serious, and yet dangerous. "Ninja water blast!" Tori used one hand without the usually two and palms up towards Kira's direction. A flow of water start to appear as the force heads her way, "Hiyah!"

"WHOA!" Kira, not able to attack back with her sonic scream quick enough, shouted as water sent her flying towards the ground. She was now soak and wet as the others come to her aid.

"Kira!" Conner yelled. "You okay?" Trent, Tommy, and Ethan surrounded her as well.

"See. I told you she was pissed." Kira sits up and beams coldly at the former BlueWind Ranger, who was smirking her way. All eyes turn directly at Tori as they wait for an explanation.

She just crosses her arms. "Hmph. Now we're even."

* * *

**A/N:** Happy reviewing! (I'll do my best to update weakly, and maybe within a couple of days if I'm not busy. Hope you liked the new chapter!)


	7. Something I Never Had

**A/N:** Thanks to Camfan4ever, garnetred, DustinandMarahForLife, BlueAngel07, Jorgitosbabe, Veronica, KirCo4ever, and malissa who last reviewed! Thank you. Thank you! Keep them coming, and more will come your way.

* * *

Chapter 7

**"Something I Never Had"**

Things begin to tone down a bit in Reefside as the teenagers resume back in a normal, quiet life. It has been exactly a week since Kira's confrontation with Elsa and Mesogog, and none of the Dino Rangers were able to run into another of their evil plans since then. Nonetheless, there were only a few more days left till Reefside High School's Sweetheart Valentine's Day Dance, and it turned out to be the subject everyone is talking about.

"Hey, Kira! Wait up." The agitated singer spun around at the call of her name as Ethan slides down the stair steps on the metal rails, cutting in front of his fellow classmates. "Opps, sorry. Excuse me." He made it down safely just in time before the first bell rang. In the meantime, the two stood in front of Dr. Oliver's room. "What's wrong with you?" He asks all of a sudden once she plastered him an irritated look.

"It's Monday morning, Ethan." She groans. "And I'm not exactly a morning person."

A mischievous smirk spread across his face as students begin walking in between them to get through. "You're still ticked about what happened aren't you?"

"I don't know what you're talking about." Kira rolled her eyes while tucking a few loose strands of hair behind her ears.

Ethan just shrugged his shoulders. "Okay, forget it. But anyway, guess what!" Excitement and anxiety filled his voice as she looks at him with mere curiosity.

"What?"

"I have a date." She raised a brow. "You know, for the Valentine's day dance. Isn't that great!"

Kira forced a rather weak smile. "Who did you ask?"

"Joanna Bryant." He grins.

Kira's mouth fell open. "The most popular girl in school said yes to you." She questioned shockingly.

Ethan glares at her. "Hey!" He retorts, offended by the tone of her voice. "She happened to find me highly attractive."

Kira was amused. "I didn't know she was into computer nerds."

He rolls his eyes at her crude comment when suddenly the final bell rang. They walked inside the classroom, followed by other classmates, and situated themselves at their assigned seats.

"Morning, Class." Dr. Oliver greeted his students. "Alright, settle down while I take roll."

Kira placed her yellow backpack on the table and began digging through her binder and notebook. Just then, the annoying Cassidy Cornell, who occupied the empty seat next to her, approaches. "Kira, is it true? Ethan James is taking Joanna Bryant to the Valentine's Day dance?"

She gently moves the tape recorder away from her face. "Why do you care?"

"Hello? I'm a school reporter. That's what I do." Cassidy scoffs with a feisty attitude. "Computer geek taking former Homecoming Queen to the dance is like big news."

Kira groans irritably. "Whatever. I can care less about the stupid dance."

"Cassidy." The blonde looks over her shoulder, only to be called out again by Dr. Oliver. "Get back to your seat." She pouts and walked back to her table without another word. "Okay, before we start class has anyone seen Conner?"

"Yep! Right here." Conner entered the room a few moments later after the last bell. All eyes turn to him as he hurried along to his seat.

"Conner, that's the fourth time you've been late this week." Dr. Oliver informs him without sounding too upset. "What's going on?"

"Erm...Car trouble and traffic, Dr O." He comes up with another excuse. "It won't happen again." Kira looks at him.

"Very well. But if it happens again, I'll have no choice but to give you detention for the remainder of the week."

Conner nods. "Yes, sir."

"Alright." He turns to the class. "Now I want you all to turn to your books to page 116 and be ready to take some notes on my boring lecture." The class grunted. "Yeah, exciting isn't it?" Their teacher stated sarcastically. "If I hear anymore whining, I'll keep you all after the bell." Cold silence filled the room as a grin appeared on Dr. Oliver's face. "Good. I shall begin."

Kira watches on as Conner takes out his books. "So...why were you _really _late?" She paused in mid-sentence and sensed something unusual about him. He looks at her weirdly.

"What?" He shrugged. "I had to do something real quick."

"Uh huh." She wasn't convinced by his answer for a moment there. "So did you hear about Ethan taking Joanna Bryant to the dance?"

The unexpected news grabbed his immediate attention as Conner shot Kira a surprised glance. He turns to Ethan. "What?"

"Hey!" Dr. Oliver snaps at them after another interruption. The two sheepishly lowered their heads and went back to work.

* * *

"You asked Joanna Bryant to the dance? _The Joanna Bryant_?" Conner pulls Ethan to the side once class ended. Kira rolls her eyes as she tagged along with the guys.

"Yeah." He smirks. The trio began walking to their lockers down the hallway. "Why? Jealous?"

"Jealous?" Conner scoffs. "No, I'm shocked that she would even consider going out with a geek."

Ethan stops and glares at him. "Don't worry, Ethan." Kira reassures him. "Conner is just being a jerk because he got turned down by the Britney Spears look alike during sophomore year when he asked her to the Homecoming dance."

"Did not!"

"Did too. I even have the school paper from that year to prove it entitled _School Jock Gets Rejected!_"

Ethan chuckles while nudging his shoulder playfully. "Oh yeah. Now I remember. Cassidy was the one that wrote the article."

"Whatever, dude." Conner crosses his arms. "It don't matter. It was her lost anyway." Ethan and Kira shared amusing looks due to his egocentric personality. "She's nothing compared to the girl I'm going to ask." He looks down at Kira.

"Who? Krystle?"

He nodded in dismay. "I was thinking about it."

"But..."

"But I want to ask someone else, and you'll never guess who". He smirks.

They let go of the subject after attempting a few unsuccessful guesses. "Janey?"

"Nope."

"Kazel?"

"Guess again."

"Cassidy?" Conner stopped and looked at Ethan seriously.

"No way, dude."

Laughing, Kira begins opening up her locker. "Ethan dated her once, so it couldn't be that bad." He glared at her. Once she popped it open, a bouquet of red roses were placed on top of her books as she takes them out in bewilderment. "Wow. That's weird."

"Who they from?" Ethan asks out of curiosity.

"I don't know." Kira places the roses under her nose to smell the scent of them, which were utterly fresh and pleasant for her taste. "But they're beautiful." She sticks her hand in and found a note. Her male friends looked over her shoulder to read. "From your secret admirer." She read.

Conner puts on a face. "What? That's it?"

"Dude, it has to be Trent." Ethan suggested. "Did he ask you to the dance yet?" Conner shot him a glance as he slowly shifts his gaze over to Kira, expectantly waiting for her answer by now.

"Uh no."

* * *

A week as gone by, and things were the same as usual in Blue Bay Harbor. Shane, Dustin, Hunter, Cam, and Tori spent their day off at the beach. Despite the cool weather, however, it was a nice sunny day out and none of them wanted to miss the opportunity to enjoy it. While the guys continue their beach volleyball game, Tori was out in the water surfing and grabbing everyone's attention in shore.

"So, Dustin. Are you going to ask Marah to be your Valentine this year?" Hunter curiously asks as he tosses the volleyball over the net towards Shane and Cam's side. Their match slowly came to an end as they discuss their plans for the remainder of the week. All eyes turn to Dustin as they wait for an answer.

"I don't know." He muttered softly. "I guess I'm still trying to come up with the right approach." Dustin wanted to get off the subject, but knowing the guys, he wasn't going to get off the hook that easily, especially when they've noticed how close he and Marah were getting for the past couple of weeks.

"I don't get why you guys take Valentine's Day so seriously." Cam thought. "What happened to the simple things? Like exchanging little cards and receiving candy. Now it's about wowing your dates."

Shane smirks as he places an arm around him. "Cam, my man. We need to get you woman."

"Oh yeah!" Hunter adds quite enthusiastically. "Let's go chick hunting."

Cam didn't like the idea as he brushes his arm off him. "No way."

"Unless you know," Shane trails off with a playful smirk, "you prefer men."

He shot him an evil glance. "Sorry to disappoint you, Shane but no."

Dustin and Hunter shared a good laugh at Cam's unexpected come back response when suddenly Tori comes heading their way. "Hey, guys." She flashes them her killer smile. "What's so funny?" Hunter's laughter immediately subsided as he stops and looks at Tori, who's all drenched up from the water, making her sexually appealing in his eyes. He blanked out for a moment as he shook his head and comes back to reality.

"Oh, nothing." Dustin answered. "We're just talking about Valentine's Day."

"So, you thought about asking Marah yet?" She asks while drying her long blonde hair with a towel.

"Uh no." He grunted out of annoyance. "Dude, why is everyone asking? I mean what about you, Tor?"

"What about me?" She chuckled.

"Do you have any plans for Valentine's Day?"

"No." Tori replies sharply. "Valentine's Day is the least of my worries. Besides, I'm not even looking forward to it so why should I even care? Sure the day is supposed to be romantic but to be honest, I'm not into that touchy lovey dovey crap anymore, if there is even such a thing as love." Once Tori finished her side of the argument, the guys exchanged looks, knowing she was referring to her and Blake but none of them dared to say a word.

"Finally. Someone who agrees with me." Cam breaks the silence as he and Tori share a quick high-five.

"Valentine's Day could just be a fun thing. You don't have to have a significant other to celebrate it." Hunter argues back. "It could be with a friend."

Tori nods. "Sure. I understand that. You just don't see it like I do. Valentine's Day is something you probably look forward to, but not me."

"What I don't understand is why Valentine's Day have to be something serious to you."

"I never said that."

"But that's what you meant." The issue suddenly became a debate between Tori and Hunter as the others continued to listen intently. "You have to stop putting yourself down, Tori. The only reason why you dislike Valentine's Day so much is because at this point in your life you feel unwanted, and alone."

She averts from his gaze. "I really don't need this from you right now."

"Just hear me out first."

"No, Hunter." Tori snaps. "You and I obviously don't see eye to eye and in this case we don't. Why are you making a big deal about it? Valentine's Day is more of a personal thing for me, and I respect that fact that you take it less seriously than I do. I valued Valentine's Day as more of a special occasion shared between two intimate people who obviously love each other, and I never even experienced that with anyone. Never. Not even with Blake. And you're right I do feel alone. I mean, why do you care anyway?" She questioned abruptly.

He groans. "I care because I'm surprised that you're not with anyone, and trust me...one of these days I know you'll find someone who will love you the same way in return. I just don't want you to think that you'll never have that because you will." Tori bit her lip as Hunter continues on. "Look, you're one of the most modest, beautiful, most utterly amazing girls I know and any guy would be luck to have you. And you're wrong about before." Hunter trails off in mid-sentence as he stares deeply into her eyes. "When I said any guy would be lucky to have you, I meant myself too."

Tori's lips slightly parted as the guys remain quiet and drawn to their argument. "What do you expect me to say in return, Hunter?" She questions abruptly. "Huh? _Oh wow, the brooding and dark fella who never seems to like the idea of me the first place suddenly admits that he'd be lucky to have me if he'd ever had a chance._ I mean, what the hell are you trying to point out here, Hunter? You feel sorry for me, is that it?"

"Tori, that's not what I meant."

"You know what?" She pauses, refusing to hear anymore from the dirty blonde who has already upsetted her at that point. "You haven't been in a relationship for quite some time now, so don't be trying to preach me about love alright?" Tori stated quite harshly as she walks past Hunter, nearly pushing him out of the way. The guys all stared at him in dismay.

"Dude..." Dustin murmurs. "That was...cold."

* * *

Meanwhile, Kira and Conner arrived moments after in Cyberspace to meet up with Ethan once class ended. While he busied himself with the laptops, Kira continues scribbling furiously on a napkin. "Dude," Conner nudges her shoulder, "what are you doing?"

She looks at him and sighs deeply. "Working on a song."

"Take a break." He suggested as he stuff his soccer ball and tee in a red duffel back. "Don't stress over it."

"I'm not stressing over it." Kira argues. "I just want to get it done."

"Hey, guys." Trent comes over to the table with their orders. Kira looks up at him as he places her apple juice down. He smiles in return.

"Can we talk?" Conner looks at Kira as Trent nods his head slightly to her request.

"Yeah. Sure."

The diva turns to her egocentric friend. "Alone."

Grunting out of laziness, Conner rolled his eyes. "Fine." He rose up from his chair and begins walking over to the computers to join Ethan. He then stops to look over his shoulder.

"What's up?" Trent asks as he took the seat that was once occupied by Conner next to his female companion.

Kira bit her lip and smiled nervously. "I received the flowers. No one has ever done that for me before." She blushed. "Thank you, they're beautiful."

He wrinkles his forehead. "Say what?" He questioned blankly.

"The flowers." She elaborated. "Didn't you put them in my locker?"

"Uh no..."

Kira arches her brow, surprised to find out that it wasn't him who left behind the flowers and note for her. "Then who did?"

* * *

**A/N:** Don't forget to review! Oh, and if you read any of my other stories, please go to the poll and vote for your favorite! The link to the poll is located on my profile. Thanks!


	8. Just Ask

**A/N:** I apologize, but I had to re-post Chapter 8. I thought something came up when uploading, but it was my mistake. Sorry!

* * *

Chapter 8

**"Just Ask" **

It was yet another ordinary day in school and only three more days remain before the Sweetheart Valentine's Day Dance in Reefside High takes place. Lunch period has just begun as Kira walks out from the school's main building and spots Ethan James, being surrounded by a few football jocks within the grassy area. To her surprise, the game freak has become the most popular guy in school in just a matter of days.

"Joanna Bryant is such a babe." One acknowledges her beauty. "She wouldn't even consider going out with me."

"That's because you don't got game, dude. Like our man over here." All eyes turn to Ethan.

Kira watches on from behind as she crosses her arms to listen carefully.

"Heck yeah, man! You have to show me some of your moves sometime." The quarterback of the team exclaims. "What's the trick?"

Ethan grins, enjoying much of the attention and respect that he was receiving from the football players who once look down on him, like all the other geeks in school. "Yeah, of course. I mean there's nothing much to it. Just be yourself." He tells them honestly.

"Be yourself..." The captain of the football team repeats for himself. "Oh man, why didn't I ever think of that before?"

Kira rolls her eyes. _'Idiots.'_ She thought amusingly.

"Anyway, we have to go and get ready for tonight's game against Blue Bay Harbor High. So far they have a perfect season, and it's about time we end it."

"Oh yeah!" His teammate exclaimes. "They're going down."

"We'll talk to you later, gamer." One guy turns around and finds Kira standing in his way. "Whoa." He stops and grins as she slightly steps back due to his large, muscular figure. "Hey, there babe." She glares at him distastefully as he continues to check her out from head to toe. "Want to go to the dance with me?" He asks with a wink. "I'll show you a really good time."

Kira crosses her arms and scoffs. "In your dreams, jerk."

"Ohhhh!" His friends teased him a bit. "Rejected!" They laughed hysterically.

"That's twice today, my friend."

"Shut up!" He snaps while beaming coldly at her. "Forget you. Let's go, guys."

"Bye." Ethan waves off to his newly found football friends as he stood next to Kira.

She nods her head. "I don't believe it.

He turns to his female companion. "What?"

"How can you hang out with those arrogant jerks? They've done some pretty nasty things to you, Ethan. How can you just let it go?"

He grunted out of annoyance. "Relax. Everything is cool now, Kira."

She scoffs. "Yeah, I can see that. From computer geek to super famous in less than 48 hours is really impressive, Ethan." She comments on his growing popularity. "Conner may need to take a few pointers from you."

"Yeah, speaking of Conner..." he trails off while moving his eyes around the school, "where is he by the way?"

Kira shrugs halfheartedly. "Who knows? Probably asking some mysterious girl to the dance."

Ethan arches his brow. "You don't seem too happy about it."

"I don't care who he goes with." She retorts offensively. "I mean...why should I care?"

He drops the subject. "Okay. So..." Ethan pauses. "Any idea who sent you those flowers?"

"Nope." She deeply sighs, anxious to find out who did as it remains a mystery. "Not a clue."

"I wonder what Trent thinks about this." Ethan smirks. "Afterall, he does have some competition to deal with." Kira shoves him roughly to the side for the comment. "What? It's true."

* * *

It was late in the afternoon when Tori arrived to Storm Chargers by foot. Ninja class has ended for her and it took about two hours to walk back to the city. Once she stepped inside the building, her male friends all look up as she makes her way to the counter.

"Hey there, Tor." Dustin was the first to greet the blonde. He wiped his dirty hands with a rag and kneeled against the counter. "What's up?" Tori gives Shane a little wave from across the room, who was busy loading up a few boxes in the stock room. She then turns back to the goof who has streaks of black lines on his face from fixing and changing oil in bikes for hours now.

"Well, let's just say it sucks not having a car." She responded vaguely.

He frowned on her behalf. "You walked again, didn't you?"

"What else is there to do?" She hissed silently. "I am forbidden to use my ninja powers in public. Plus, how am I supposed to get the money for a new one? I don't even have the time to get a job."

Dustin scratches the top of his head. "Well, you can work here part time."

"Here?" Tori makes a funny face as she cringes her nose. "With you guys?"

"Yeah. With Blake out of the picture, we can sure use one more."

She chuckles at the thought. "I don't think so."

"Why not?" He scoffs.

"I can give you a million reasons why, Dustin but right now I'm just not in the mood."

The former Yellow Wind Ranger sighs. "It couldn't hurt to ask Hunter for help now wouldn't it?"

Tori shot him a glance for mentioning his name. "Who said I need his help?"

"He has a car, Tor. He gets out from the Thunder Ninja Academy same time as you do. Instead of walking for seven miles each day trying to get here by wearing yourself out, you should have Hunter pick you up."

"No way." She argues back. "I can take care of myself."

"You're willing to walk that long every day?"

Tori narrows her eyes. "I rather do that than be in a car with what's his name again?"

"Ouch, Tor." She was interrupted by the sound of someone's phone ringing as it played some funky tune. "Show a little compassion?" Hunter sticks his head out from behind the counter, revealing streaks of blue and red paint on his face. Tori grunted as she turns to Dustin irritably.

"You didn't tell me he was here." She muttered.

He shrugs his shoulders. "I didn't think you'd care."

Hunter jumps over the counter and heads their way. Tori heaved a deep sigh while trying to avoid his gaze. "So how's the poster coming along?" Dustin asks his dirty blonde friend.

Hunter steals a quick glance of Tori before answering. "Great. I um...have to take this. Be right back." He puts his cell phone on hold as he heads out the door. Tori groans out of frustration as she looks over her shoulder and watched him leave.

"You know, one of these days you're going to owe him big time." He smirks. "He's only trying to help."

"That's because he feels sorry for me."

Dustin rolls his eyes at such none sense that was coming out from her stubborn mouth. "Tor, Hunter doesn't feel sorry for you. He's just being an honest, caring friend."

"Why are you taking his side?" She questioned sharply.

"I'm not taking anyone's side." He groans in response. "I just..." Dustin lost his train of though, "I just want you to see where he's coming from that's all."

Tori folds her arms and glares at him. Just then, Marah and Kapri entered the store. Dustin turns to the side and smiles at her appearance. "Hey there, dirt boy." The pretty brunette grabbed him by the collar and takes him by surprise with a kiss. "Miss me?" Kapri immediately looks away as Tori's mouth fell open.

"You know it." Dustin whispers seductively once their lips parted.

"Ugh." Kapri thought in disgust as they continue to make out in front of them. "He's not even clean, Marah."

Tori chuckles while facing the pinkhead. "I think we should leave the two love birds alone."

"Good idea." Tori and Kapri began walking towards the vacant couch.

"So it's official then?" The blonde asks shockingly, surprised with Dustin and Marah's unexpected moment, which was bound to happen sooner or later. Tori, however, didn't think it'd happen now.

"Oh yeah." She whispers. "He came by last night and surprised her with chocolate, a bouquet of roses, and sernade her with the sax."

Tori smiles in awed. "How sweet! And it's not even Valentine's Day."

"Well, he planned it all along."

"You knew about it?"

Kapri nods her head. "Uh huh."

"Do any of the guys know?"

"Nope."

Tori scoffs. "How come he didn't come to me? He usually asks me for help."

"That's because you don't know Marah as well as I do." Kapri smirks as she glances over at the happy couple, who were now laughing and flirting nearby without the care in the world.

The blonde smiles while looking their way. "Yeah..." She sighed. "I guess you're right."

Kapri's eyebrows furrowed. "What's wrong, Sensei" She asks due to her melancholy behavior. "Sorry, I mean...Tori."

She shrugged. "It's nothing."

"Nothing? There's obviously something in your mind."

She looks up. "I think I''m gonna hit the waves. I'll see you later, k?"

"But-"

Tori turned her heel and headed out the door with her blue duffel bag while waving the others goodbye along the way. Kapri sighed when suddenly Hunter came in from the back of Storm Chargers a few moments after. The pinkhead turned around and smiled. "Hey!"

"Kapri, where's Tori?" He asks anxiously.

"Ah. You just missed her."

"Damn." Hunter muttered with his teeth clenched together. He ran a hand through his dirty blonde hair and sighed deeply. "Alright. Thanks anyway."

"Why? What's up?"

Hunter bit his lip. "It's Blake. He just called to inform me that he'll be stopping by tomorrow."

Kapri noticed his lack of excitement on the news as she gives him a weird funny look. "Well...that's great...right?"

"With his girlfriend." Hunter says as he begins taking a few steps back towards the counter.

She follows. "Oh."

"But don't say anything. Yet!" He looks over his shoulder and gasps. "Whoa!" Without looking where he was going, Hunter accidentally ran into Marah and Dustin who were suddenly making out in front of them. Their lips quickly parted as Hunter's mouth fell open in surprise. "What the..." Dustin and Marah broke apart and blushed as a playful grin spread across his face. He chuckled, torn between feeling awkward and amused at the moment. "I don't know anything," he softly muttered, "so I'm just gonna pretend I didn't see that." Hunter glances over at Marah's shy eyes before turning his gaze over to Dustin with a wink. _'Right on, dude.' _He mouths to him with two thumbs up to the side so none of the girls would notice. The goofball smiles.

"We'll leave you two alone now. Come on." Kapri pulls Hunter along with her towards the exit.. "Oh and next time, get a room. You're scaring all the customers away."

Once they disappeared out the door, Marah's fury eyes narrows from behind. _"Oh, you're scarying all the customers away. Boohoo." _She mocks her sister as Dustin caught his girlfriend from the corner of his eye and chuckles.

"What was that all about?"

She shrugged. "Eh, whatever. So you ready to go?"

He scratches the top of his head. "Yeah, just about."

"Take your time." Marah slowly walks over and plants a soft kiss on his tender lips. "I'll wait for you."

He smiles. "Hmm...I like that."

* * *

Meanwhile, Tori was a mile away from reaching Blue Bay Harbor's community beach when suddenly a red car stopped at a curb next to her. Tori, who was never fond of complete strangers following her around, ignored it and continued walking as the car moves right along her pace. The blonde nervously looks over from the corner of her eye as the familiar gentleman rolled down his window. "Hey!" He sticks his head out to reveal himself. "What's the rush?" Tori stopped on the sidewalk and turned to him. "Eric?" Her eyebrows furrowed.

He smirks. "No, I'm Conner, Eric's twin brother. Remember me?"

"Of course." The blonde smiles in relief as she walks over to his car. It has been only a week since they've last seen each other, and it seemed like a lifetime. "So what brings you here to Blue Bay Harbor?" She asks out of curiosity.

Conner shrugged as he rested his arm on the steering wheel. "Well...just driving around and visiting my brother." He answered.

"You sure you're not just stalking me?" Tori playfully questions with an evil glare.

He chuckled in response. "No. Can't a friend just stop by and say hi?"

She crosses her arms and smiles. "Fair enough."

"So...do you need a lift?"

"Actually..." Tori trails off in mid-sentence while looking afar to her destination. She could see the shore from where she was standing. "I'm almost there." The blonde tells him. However, he couldn't take no for an answer.

"Come on. Get in."

"What? No, I'm fine." Tori stated reassuringly. "You go right ahead."

"I'm gonna be driving next to you like this the whole way if you don't get in." Conner argues back. "I mean it's the least I can do." Tori pursed her lips to think. "Come on."

Defeated, she rolls her eyes and grunted. "Alright, if it makes you happy." The blonde says as she walks over to the passenger seat and gets inside the vehicle for his sake. Tori turns to the side and smiles at him. "Thanks for doing this." She says while putting on her seatbelt.

"No problem. Where to?"

"The beach."

The ride took about five minutes long as they discussed random things about life in general through the process of getting to know one another. Once they've reached Blue Bay, Conner parked his car at an empty lot where he dropped her off. Tori thanked him once again before heading out. "I owe you one." She shuts the door behind and peeks through the open window. "Thanks."

"Wait, Tori."

The blonde turns back around. "Yeah?"

"Actually..." He trails off with something in mind. A flier, advertising the Sweetheart Valentine's Day Dance, was lying on the floor below him as he takes his eyes of it and faces her. "There's a big favor I want to ask you..."

She tilted her head to the side. "Okay, spill."

* * *

Loud standing ovation applause filled the cafe after another one of Kira's flawless performances. The musician smiled gratefully to her audience before bowing casually. "Thank you." Kira jumped off the stage, only to be greeted, afterwards, by Trent with a glass of apple juice as her reward.

"You did great out there, Kira."

She flashes him a pleasing smile as she takes her drink and rested the guitar on the floor beside her. "Thanks, Trent." The two situated themselves at a table as people began patting Kira on the back while passing by. She looks around the room as her mind trails off on Conner, who left right after school to visit his twin brother Eric. It was one performance he missed, but his trip to Blue Bay Harbor must have been important. Caught in her own world, Trent continues to stare at his female companion as he studies her carefully. Kira catches him from the corner of her eye after a brief moment. "What?" She laughed, feeling a bit uncomfortable for being stared at for quite some time.

The lone artist looks down and chuckles uneasily. "Nothing. I'm sorry."

"Don't be." Kira smiles. "I like it when you look at me."

Trent presses his lips together as their eyes slowly met. They smiled at each other and laughed despite the awkwardness. "So..."

"Yeah..." She sighed in relief. "So..."

"Everyone is talking about the dance."

Kira rolled her eyes. "So what else is new?" Trent averts from her gaze as his heart begins pounding rapidly. _'Come on.' He thought anxiously. 'Just do it, already_.' Kira's eyebrows furrowed due to his ill at ease gesture as he begins to sweat out of nervousness. "Trent?" He jolted up to face her. "What's wrong?"

He forced a weak smile once he looked at her again. "Nothing. J-Just..." He stammered on his sentence. "Just nervous."

"Why?" She thought.

Trent takes a deep breath to soothe his nerves, which didn't help at all as the beat of his heart increases in speed. "Well...uhh...I always feel nervous when I'm around you, Kira, especially right now." He finally says.

"Well, what am I doing that's making you feel nervous?" She asks curiously.

"Looking more beautiful everyday."

Kira looks away in pleased embarrassment, utterly flattered by his compliment. "That's sweet, Trent." She could feel butterflies in her stomach and her cheeks turning feverish red. However, it didn't stop Trent from feeling idiotic at that point, thinking he just made a complete fool of himself in front of the most attractive thing that has ever stepped foot on earth. But then again, it had to be the scariest thing he has done thus far aside from his ranger duties. _'Okay, that sounded lame.' He thought angrily to himself. 'Idiot, just do it already!'_

"Kira, there's something I've been meaning to ask you all this week..." Trent trembles as his breath got caught in his throat. He swallowed hard, feeling rather worst at the moment as his hands and feet begin to shake. "Will you..." He pauses nervously as he holds the thought for a bit longer, making Kira feel even more anxious and that given point. _'Oh my God...' She thought with great anticipation as her heart begins to race with mere excitement. _Trent, then, takes a deep and relaxing breath before finally asking.

"Will you go to the dance with me?"

* * *

**A/N:** Hope you guys like it! (This one took me awhile)Review please, and I'll get right to the next chapter.


	9. Behind The Truth

**A/N:** Hey, everyone. Sorry for the long update, but I was gone for a few days. I just arrived from an L.A. trip but now I'm back and ready to wrap this story up. Hopefully, you're still interested in reading. Again, thanks for the reviews and enjoy the next chapter.

* * *

Chapter 9

**"Behind The Truth"**

Shane, Tori, and Dustin have completed another lesson at the Wind Ninja Academy as the well trained and dominant trio headed out the to the waterfall to meet with Sensei. Once they've open the portal and greeted him on the other side, the three bowed respectably before him and stood at attention. He nods slightly in return. "At ease." Sensei tells them as Shane, Tori, and Dustin stepped to the side in unison and place their hands behind them. "So, how are our students progressing thus far?"

"Very nicely, Sensei." Tori spoke first for the group. "They are showing much improvement."

"That's good news, Tori." Sensei smiles impressively. "What about your twins?"

"Our twins?" Shane wasn't able to comprehend at what he meant by the statement as he shares bewildered looks with the others.

"Kyle, Eric, and Tally." Their Sensei answers.

They remained lost and quiet. "Oh." Dustin suddenly chuckled out of nowhere. "I get it. Good one, Sensei."

Tori scoffs. "I do not look like Tally."

"Yeah, and Kyle?" Shane thought wrongly. "No way."

Sensei cracked a smile, and despite his serious personality, he'd like to lighten up and teased his former students a bit. "I'm only kidding. It's not the physical appearance that makes you all alike, but your way of being. Don't forget, the three of you were once like them during your first year in the Wind Ninja Academy."

"So much alike!" Dustin adds with enthusiasm. Tori and Shane turned to him in unison. "What?"

"Speak for yourself, Sensei Dustin."

He scoffs. "Hey, dude."

"Silence!"

The former Wind Rangers shuffled back in a standing right position. "Sorry, Sensei." They chorused at the same time.

"Alright, at ease." Sensei stood in front of them. "I asked that you meet me over here to fulfill a task that I hope you will all accept."

Shane's eyebrows furrowed. "What kind of task, Sensei?"

"Well," he stops in mid-sentence to recollect his thoughts, "it's something that I hope you'll enjoy doing." They listened carefully. "I have spoken with Hayley and Tommy Oliver of Reefside and they need your help with a simple favor."

"We're up for anything, Sensei."

Dustin slightly elbowed his shoulder. "Dude, what if it's like picking dog poop or something." He hisses silently.

Shane leans over and whispers. "You kidding me? Then it's something you'll be doing."

"Dude."

"Are you even listening?" Sensei snaps at Shane and Dustin as they straightened their posture.

"Yes, Sir...I mean, Sensei."

Tori rolls her eyes.

"As I was saying, Reefside High is holding a Valentine's Day Dance, and you three are invited. I may have to inform Hunter with the news later on."

"Alright!" Shane and Dustin shared a quick high-five as excitement filled their voices. "I'll be grooving in my new dance shoes. YOW!"

"I didn't know you two could dance." Tori found it amusing.

Shane grins. "You're not the only one that can bust a move yah know."

"Ahem."

The three quiet down for Sensei to continue on. "Sorry...again, Sensei...sir."

"Very well. I take it from your enthusiasm that you three are willing to do this."

"Of course." Dustin blurts out excitedly. "How often do we get a big break like this? And plus, I haven't been to a high school dance since...well...forever!"

"It's been only two years, Dustin." Tori replies vaguely. "Besides, aren't we a bit too old to be going to some stupid high school dance? We should be clubbing or something."

He scoffs. "Whatever, dude. I just want to go and take Marah out."

"You won't be necessarily dancing, Dustin." Sensei informs him as all three look up quizzically.

"What do you mean, Sensei?"

"Well, you can still have a good time..."

"Ha!" Tori interrupted his train of thought. "I knew there's a catch." Tori casually takes her place. "Go on, Sensei."

Shane turns to Sensei as they wait for his answer. "But..."

"Well, Reefside High need a few chaperones...and unfortunately, they don't have enough people who are willing to work extra hours that night, so..."

"So that means we're babysitting high schoolers on Valentine's Day." Tori finishes it off for him, followed by a deep sigh. "Great."

"What!" Shane and Dustin shrieked in unison. "Whoa. Whoa. Whoa. Don't chaperones just stand around and watch?"

"Gee," Tori places her hand on the goofball's shoulder, "I didn't think you were that smart." Dustin glares at her.

"Well, it's all settled then." Sensei pats them on the back and smiles. "I'll tell Tommy that you're up for the challenge."

"But-"

"You are all dismissed." Sensei says as he disappeared into the portal. All eyes turn to Shane.

"What?"

"Oh we're up for anything, Sensei." Tori mocks her skaterboy friend as Shane pursed his lips.

"Hey!" He snaps at them. "We're teachers now. We should be able to take any challenge that comes our way." He explains to the group. "Besides, how hard could it be?"

* * *

On the other side of Blue Bay Harbor, Hunter informed his students to meet him at a designated area, outside the Thunder Ninja Academy. Once they arrived in their street clothes like they were told to, his students all gave each other puzzled looks without the slightest clue what to expect in training that day. As they start a discussion on the topic, Hunter appeared from a portal as they quickly stood at attention upon his approach. Hunter stopped in front of his students and nodded. "At ease." One student raises a hand. "Yes, Robert."

"Sensei Hunter, shouldn't we be in our ninja uniforms during training?" He asks politely.

"You're right, but we're not training today." Hunter tells them as they all muttered away in excitement. "But we'll be doing something else." They fell into complete silence.

"What are we doing, Sensei?"

Hunter smirks as he revealed them a great number of buckets, sponges, hoses, and posters placed on the ground. His students wrinkled their foreheads in utter confusion as they wait for an explanation. "We'll be doing a car wash today and hopefully raise alot of money out of it."

"Alright!" They cheered on excitedly as Hunter raised an eyebrow, taken by surprise with their eagerness on the idea.

"Hmm...I expected worst from your responses."

"You kidding?" One chuckles. "Anything to get out of training is fine by me!"

"Yeah!" Another exclaims as Hunter nods his head in dismay.

"Sensei?"

He looks at the blonde female. "Yes, Maggie?"

"What are we raising money for anyway?"

Everyone fell into silence once again as all eyes turn to him. "Oh...well, umm...it's for a good cause really." Hunter groans while scratching the back of his head.

"What kind of cause?" One plasters a playful grin.

"Well...a friend of mine who teachers at the Wind Ninja Academy encountered a car accident about a week ago and unfortunately doesn't have a car, so I thought it'd be nice if we help and hopefully raise enough to buy a new one."

"Is this friend...a girl?"

Hunter chuckles. "Yes, it's for a girl."

"Do you like her?"

He scoffs. "I am not discussing my personal life with any of you."

"This must be for a Valentine's Day gift! That's so sweet!" One of his female students gushed over in awed.

"I never said that." Hunter retorts.

"It is huh?"

"No."

"Sure, Sensei. Sure."

Hunter rolls his eyes as he becomes annoyed with their immaturity. They would make fun of him quite often during and out of class, which was amusing to Leanne at times. Regardless of their off and on moments, Hunter has become attached to his students and vice versa for the past year. They've become like family; a disoriented one. "So...are you guys up for the challenge?" He asks, getting right to the point.

"Oh yeah! Let do this!"

He smiles. "Alright. Let's get to work then."

* * *

Conner kicked the soccer ball into the net as Kira and Ethan cheered him on from outside the field. A satisfied grin spread across his face as he runs over to get the ball and stuffs it in his red duffel bag. "So am I doing better?" He asks once Kira and Ethan approached him in the middle of the field.

They smiled. "Much better, dude."

"You got game after all, Conner." His female companion teased a bit as he turns to her with an evil glare "I'll catch you two later."

"Hey, where you going?"

Kira looks over her shoulder. "Girl's locker room. Need to pick up a few things."

"Do you need a ride to Hayley's after?"

"No." She smiles brightly. "Trent is giving me a ride. I'll meet you guys there."

Conner arches his brow as he turns to Ethan confusingly. "She seems very happy today, don't you think?"

"Oh yeah." He grins. "That's because Trent asked her to the dance."

"What!" Conner yells out surprisingly. "He what!" His eyes grew larger in outrage.

"Whoa," Ethan backs up away from him, "you need to calm down, my friend."

Conner runs a hand through his light brown hair to ease up a bit. "Well, why didn't you tell me?"

"I don't know." He shrugged. "I thought you knew it was going to happen sooner or later." Conner looks down and bit his lip. "What's the big deal anyway? It's not like you sent her those flowers in attempt to ask her to the dance just in case someone else asks her when all she could be thinking about is the mysterious person that sent them." The jock remained quiet as he slowly looks up at him. Ethan furrowed his eyebrows. "What? Say something."

He grunted in defeat. "Dude," Conner looks down and sighs. "You got me."

"What are you talking about?" Ethan asks. Conner just makes a face as he watches the computer whiz look more confuse than ever. Just then, his eyes widen. "Oh...my...gosh..." He covered his mouth in shock. "No...freaking...way!"

"SHH!" Conner pulls him to the side as people walk by them. "Don't say anything." He hissed out of paranoia.

Ethan's mouth fell open. "So it was you? It was you that sent those flowers to Kira wasn't it?"

He looks down and blushes. "Yeah."

"Wait a minute. You were precisely late that day because-" Ethan pauses in mid sentence and smirks, "Oh...my...gosh."

Conner scoffs as he rolls his eyes. "Will you stop saying that?"

"This is huge." He thought excitedly. "I mean...how are you gonna tell Kira? Better yet, Trent!"

"I don't know." Conner sighs out of frustration. "I'm just gonna use Tori's advice."

"Tori?"

"Yeah, I ran into her yesterday while I was at Blue Bay Harbor."

"Oh." Ethan nodded his head. "Our football team defeated them last night in overtime by the way."

Conner turns to him weirdly. "Since when do you care?"

He grunts. "Okay, never mind. So what are you gonna do?"

Conner looks at Ethan. "I'm going to tell her the truth."

* * *

Upon Kira's arrival inside the woman's locker room, she heard a bunch of girls coming in from cheerleading practice as the musician rushed inside a bathroom stall. "Great." Kira thought agitatedly as she sat on the toilet and waited patiently for them to leave.

"Ugh, I swear." One of the girls grunted. "If coach yells at me again, I'm going to have a total bitch fit."

"Like right now?" Her teammate chuckles.

"Yes, Melanie. Like right now!" She yells out of frustration while kicking her gym back from off the bench. "She's driving my nuts. I say we sue her ass and fire her!"

"Better yet, let's seduce her hunky boyfriend. I heard he cheats on her."

Kira rolls her eyes from behind the bathroom door as she continues to listen.

"Get a rip, all of you!" Their captain yells out as all eyes turn to her. The room fell silent. "Damn...enough bitchin' already! She led us to three national championships in a row, and because of her we are considered one of the best squads in the state. We're the shit, the best there is out there." She added. "Now I don't want to give that up. Do you?" They exchange bewildered looks and remain quiet. "I thought so."

"Ugh." Another beams coldly at her. "Who made you boss, Joanna?"

She stares down at her long time rival. "I'm team captain, Megan and I'm in charge. Don't like it, then you should resign as co-captain. Better yet, quit if you dare." Megan crosses her arms and pouts. "Didn't think so."

"Yeah? What kind of a cheerleader goes out with a geek like Ethan James anyway?" Megan giggles. "Oh wait, I forgot. You're playing him just like the little ho I always thought you'd be. Some role model you are for the team." She adds sarcastically.

"You want to say that again, bitch?"

"Whoa, guys." Melanie stood between them before they start to lash out at each other with their fist. "Shit. Enough already." They glared at each other as they slowly ease up their temper. "Damn."

"Ethan is a nice guy." Nicole, one of the nice and gentler members of the cheerleading squad shyly spoke up. "You shouldn't be toying with his feelings."

"Says who?" Joanna scoffs with an attitude. "I get big bucks just to go to the dance with him, and there's no way I'll be losing the bet. Besides, losers don't care." She joked. "They just want the attention."

Kira looks down and bit her lip, appalled at what was just heard. "Poor Ethan." She sadly whispers. "I gotta tell him."

* * *

"Thank you." Tori handed the cab driver some money as she steps out from the vehicle, holding on to a few grocery bags. She decided to stop by at Dustin's where all the guys usually hang out right after class or work aside from their sport activities. Instead of ordering up pizza and Chinese food every time for the past couple of days, Tori agreed on doing all the cooking, which her male companions enjoy having when they ever get the chance to. Once she reached the front porch of Dustin's home, she slowly reaches over the doorbell and gently presses on it. Tori waits patiently under the cool darken night when suddenly the last person she wanted to see opens the door and sticks his head out. _'Uh oh.' _He thought as he smiles weakly in her presence. "Umm...Hey, Tor." Hunter steps outside and closes the door behind.

"Hunter." She replies vaguely. "Is everyone in there?"

He bit his lip and nodded. "Uh huh."

"Well...can I come in?"

He rubs the back of his neck nervously. "Oh come in? Now?" Hunter chuckled as he takes the grocery bags from her grasp and places it down on the rocking chair nearby. "It's a beautiful night. Let's stay out here for a bit." Tori furrowed her eyebrows curiously.

"Why?"

"Because," he pauses in mid sentenced to think of something realistic to say, "it's clear and nice out." Hunter smiles. "Don't you want to see the stars and count them?"

Tori stares at him weirdly as she crosses her arms. "Okay, what's going on?" She demanded an answer.

"What do you mean?"

"_Counting stars? Beautiful night out? _Uh yeah, it's definitely something you would say." Tori thought sarcastically. He frowned as she rolls her eyes. "Cut the crap out, Hunter and let me in."

"Wait!" He steps in front of her before reaching the doorknob. "You can't go in there. Uhh...it's a total mess! You wouldn't like it."

"Why am I not surprised?"

"Well, it's pretty smelly in there too." Hunter makes a face as Tori narrows her eyes. She wasn't convinced by him one bit.

"You're hiding something." She says suspiciously. "I know it."

"No, I'm not." He argues back.

"I'll see for myself then. Move!" The blonde roughly pushes Hunter out of the way as she easily makes her way inside the house_. 'Damn.'_ He muttered while following Tori behind towards the livingroom. _'Not good.'_ Once Tori stepped inside where all the guys were, her mouth fell open in surprise as her gaze lingers on one unexpected visitor. "Blake?" She whispers breathlessly. The guys all exchanged worried glances as the Factor Blue rider looked over his shoulder and smiles.

"Oh hey, Tori." Blake wraps his arm around some redhead. "You two get to finally meet." The mysterious, beautiful woman turned around to look her way as Tori arches her brow in bewilderment.

"So you're the infamous Tori Blake can't stop talking about." She smirks. "It's finally great to see you."

The blonde forces a weak smile. "Not to sound rude or anything, but who are you?"

She shifts her gaze over to Blake and smiles. "Tori, this my girlfriend Irish."

* * *

**A/N**: Don't forget to review!


	10. A Gift & Confession

**A/N:** Thank you for the reviews & enjoy the next chapter.

* * *

Chapter 10

**"A Gift & Confession"**

"Irish was the first female in Factor Blue history to win a motorcross title." Blake goes on bragging about his current girlfriend as the others continue to listen with mere curiosity at the dinner table. Tori, on the other hand, seemed rather bored throughout the conversation as she tries to pull off an act in looking fascinated by the new couple's experience. "We uh first met at the starting line during a race about a year ago." Blake answers Dustin's question, as he turns to Irish with a engaging smile. "Yeah...and ever since we just couldn't stop seeing each other. Not to mention the fact that she beat me for the first time, and I just had to know more about her." The guys chuckled, amused with their interesting relationship.

"Well, you two seem very happy together. My bro can't stop talking about you on the phone."

"Thank you, Hunter." Irish smiles warmly as their fingers intertwined underneath the table. Blake winks as he gives her hand a tight squeeze in return. "We are truly happy."

Tori looked away and secretly rolled her eyes so she couldn't be seen. "Oh, I think I'm gonna be sick." She muttered as everyone turned her way.

"What was that?" Irish asks.

The blonde flashes her a fake smile from across the table. "Nothing. I uhh...was just observing how a great of a couple you two look, and Hunter is right. You two look real happy, nonetheless perfect for each other." The thought made Tori feel weak in the knees, although she was speaking nothing but the truth. The guys exchange looks as they watch her lower her eyes and stare down at her half empty plate, slowly drifting into another world.

"I'm surprised you're single, Tori." Irish mentions all of a sudden as her head jolted back up to meet her gaze. "Blake has told me plenty of great thinks about you, and believe me, you're much more beautiful in person than I've seen in your pictures."

Tori shrugged her shoulders, yet slightly flattered by her kind voice. "Well, not every guy sees that in me."

"Oh come on." Dustin scoffs due to her modest personality. "I bet most of us here have liked you at some point. Besides Blake, I know I did."

Shane sinks down on his chair. "Aww, man. Can we not go over this please?" He whines.

Hunter chuckled. "I didn't know you liked Tori." He gave him a playful nudge on the shoulder.

"Oh yeah." Dustin smirks. "Trust me, dude. He did."

"What about Hunter?" Irish questioned as all eyes turn to him. "Did you ever had a thing for Tori?"

He was now on the hot seat as he remains keeping a straight face without showing any sign of mercy. "No." Hunter managed to let it out from his system quite easily after a few moments of silence.

"Sure." Dustin coughed from nowhere. "Sure."

They laughed as Hunter shot him an evil glance. "What?"

* * *

It was a quiet ride to Hayley's Cyberspace Cafe as Kira remained silent on the passenger seat. Tomorrow was Valentine's Day, and the same day the Sweetheart dance will occur at Reefside High. Trent looks over at the musician, who hasn't said a word since they left the school. Anxiety has overcome him as he cleared his throat out and casually begins to speak to break the awkward silence. "You seem awfully quiet. Is there something wrong?" He asks worriedly.

She slowly turns to him with a sincere smile. "Yeah, I'm just worried about Ethan."

He furrowed his eyebrows while keeping his hands on the steering wheel. "Why is that?"

Kira pursed her lips and sighs. "I heard Joanna talking in the girl's locker room, and unfortunately, she's playing him for money." She looked down. "Man, I feel so bummed out about this."

"What?" Trent splutters out in disbelief. "You're kidding."

"Nope."

"Well, I'm not surprised." He slightly chuckled. "Joanna Bryant is known for breaking hearts these days."

Kira grunted. "Tell me about it. I mean...Ethan is gonna be crushed when he finds out. He sees her differently. Just like Cassidy."

Trent made a complete stop as he parked his father's car in front of a nearby building next to Cyberspace. The two got out and walked side by side towards the entrance. Once they were inside, Conner and Ethan turned around from their seats and watch as the two walk in.

"Well...here's your chance." The computer geek whispers silently to the jock upon their arrival.

Conner looks their way and sighs deeply. "Man, why does he have to be here?" He questioned agitatedly due to his appearance.

"Duh. He works here."

He scratches the top his head. "Oh yeah. I forgot." The conversation went to a complete stop once Kira and Trent approached their table.

"Hey, guys." The musician greeted them first as her golden locks fell over her eyes. Conner looks up and smiles. 'God, she's beautiful.' He thought dreamily.

"I should be getting to work." Trent faces Kira. "I'll talk to you later. Maybe we can go out some time during my break?"

"Sure." She smiles in agreement. "I would love to."

"Cool." He waves to the other guys. "See yah."

Conner narrows his eyes at him. He could feel his temper rising in anger at the sight of Trent. Not that he has anything against the artist, but the attraction they both share with Kira was getting the best of him, and jealousy was something he has a hard time overcoming. "Ugh, I can't stand that guy!"

He bangs his first against the table as Kira and Ethan shot him a glance. "Conner? What was that?"

"Nothing." He muffled casually, unaware with his surroundings. "I uhh...was j-just talking to myself." He leaned back against the chair with his hands resting on the back of his head. 'Man, I need to stop doing that.'

Kira arches her brow. "Right..." She turns to Ethan and shrugged. "Listen, I need to talk to you about something real important." Conner noticed the worry in her eyes.

"Can it wait?" Ethan remains focused on the laptop screen. "I'm almost through with the last level."

"No." She grunted irritably. "We have to talk...now." She grabbed his arm and dragged him across the room as Conner watches on in amusement.

"Dude!" Ethan rapidly pulls his arm away from her grip. "What is it?" He questioned out of annoyance.

Kira stares at him carefully, followed by a deep sigh. "Look, I didn't want you to hear this from me but there's no other way so you'll have to listen up."

He folds his arms. "Alright. I'm listening."

"It's about Joanna."

"She's great isn't she?" Ethan grins all of a sudden at the sound of her name. "I bought her a crosage and everything! Boy, am I excited about tomorrow."

Kira looks down in spite of guilt. "She's bad news, Ethan. You have to dump her before it's too late."

"And why would I do an idiotic thing like that?" He asks, puzzled with her odd behavior.

"Because!" Kira struggled to find the right words. "I heard her talk about you in the locker room...and I didn't want you to hear this from me, but-"

"What is it?" Ethan anxiously wanted her to get right to the point. "What, Kira?"

"She's playing you, Ethan!" The musician finally let out. "The only reason why she agreed to go to the dance with you is for some stupid bet she made with God knows who." Ethan lowered his eyes and begins nodding his head in dismay. "I'm sorry, Ethan. I didn't want you to find out this way."

"I don't believe it." His eyes were filled with upset and betrayal. "I should have known..."

Kira places her hand on his shoulder for comfort. "I'm so sorry, Ethan."

"No!" He snaps, as Kira stood back, startled. "I'm sick of the lack of respect I'm getting from you and Conner. You think she's too good for me. I get it."

"No, that's not what I'm trying to say. You're too good for her."

"You know what I think?" He chuckled as he eased up his temper. "You can't accept that fact that I'm going out with the most popular girl in school." Ethan stated in her defense.

"Uh yeah, don't forget the most stuck up, manipulating, self-centered brat!" Kira retorts. "Ethan, why would I make this up?"

"Because you feel sorry for me."

"No! Because I care about you, Ethan and I wouldn't want you to get hurt."

Conner watches on curiously from across the room without the slightest clue what was going on.

"Well, it's too late for that now." His glare intensified. "The thing that hurts the most is having my so-called friends backstab me in the back." Kira's lips parted due to his angered tone. "I thought you and Conner were my friends; friends that support each other through thick and thin." He pauses in mid sentence, followed by a deep sigh. "But I guess I was wrong."

"Ethan-"

"I got to go and pick up my suit. Later." He brushes past Kira and exit the cafe. Sighing deeply, she turned back around and headed towards Conner's table

"What was that all about?" He asks upon her approach.

Kira takes a seat across from him and frowns. "You don't want to know."

* * *

Meanwhile, Blake and Irish began to head on out as Tori, Dustin, Shane, and Hunter all followed them to the door. It was getting late and their manager, Roger Hannah, not too long ago by phone, told them that the Factor Blue tour bus will be leaving shortly. They were going to head on foot towards the station once they refused Hunter's offer for a ride. "Bro, don't worry about it." Blake reassures him. "It's not a long walk from here. Besides, we'll be sitting for hours and we could definitely use some walking." Tori fell behind the group as they all say their farewells to the couple.

"It was nice meeting you, Irish." Hunter gently shook her hand after sharing a one-arm hug with his brother.

"You too, Hunter." She winked. "Hopefully you'll find that perfect someone. That goes for you too, Tori."

The blonde weakly smiles in return. "Thanks..."

"Take it easy, dude." Dustin tells Blake as they did their little handshake. "She's definitely a keeper."

"Thanks, man. And uhh...good luck with Marah. She's definitely the lucky one."

The goofball blushed in awed. "Dude...stop."

They chuckled. "Maybe we can bring you all in and watch one of our races sometime." Irish suggested.

"That'd be awesome!"

"Yeah!" Shane exclaims quite enthusiastically on the idea.

"Anyway, we should get going." She noticed they were running late while glancing over her watch. "It was nice meeting you all."

"Bye." They waved off in unison as they watch them leave hurriedly. Dustin, then, shuts the door behind and faces the others.

"Dude..." he grins widely, "his girlfriend is hot."

Shane and Hunter nodded their heads in agreement. "I'm gonna tell Marah you said that." The dirty blonde threatened him in a joking matter.

"Hey, Marah is beautiful, but dude...Irish is hot."

Tori leaned back against the wall and rolled her eyes in annoyance.

"You think all the girls in Factor Blue are just as hot as her?" Shane wondered out of curiosity.

Hunter smirks. "Probably so."

"I'm surprised you turn down the offer." Dustin inquires all of a sudden. "You could've had girlfriend by now."

He shrugged rather pathetically. "I prefer finding one here, if it ever happens." Hunter looks up at Tori and noticed tears rolling down her cheeks. The others haven't noticed as she tried the best of her ability to hide it. This was the first time Hunter has seen her cry, and yet, watching her in complete sadness made his heart ache in shame.

"Be right back." Tori hid her face as she heads towards the kitchen to start cleaning up. Hunter could hear light trembling in her voice, which the others weren't able to comprehend in time. Shane and Dustin exchange bewildered look as they watch Hunter follow her down the narrow hallway.

"What is that all about?" The former yellow Wind Ranger questioned in curiosity once they disappeared into the other room.

He turns to Shane. "Let them be." He smirks.

Hunter made his way inside the kitchen, and upon his arrival, found Tori weeping on the counter. The door shut by itself as she turned around, startled by the unexpected company. "Argh." The blonde grunted reluctantly. "Go away, Hunter." Tori quickly wipes away her tears, embarrassed for being seen in a depressing state.

Hunter bit his lip, unsure whether or not he should discuss the issue with her. "You're still not over him, are you?"

Tori looks back sharply. "Of course I'm over him."

"Then what's the matter? You were dead quiet in the table."

"Nothing." She sniffs as she began placing dirty dishes into the sink. "Nothing at all."

He rolls his eyes. "Oh come on. Those tears obviously mean something." Tori stops as she slowly turns to him. "You're upset, I can see it. Just please..." Hunter begs of her. "Please tell me what's wrong."

She places the dishes down and crosses her arms as if she was ready to speak her mind. Meanwhile, Shane and Dustin continue to listen on the other side of the door. "You want to know the truth? Well, here it is. I felt like an idiot tonight." Tori's lips trembled as tears fill up her eyes. "God, none of you guys even told me Blake was coming."

"I was going to, Tori."

"But let me guess. You failed to tell me right?"

He looks down and sighs. "I didn't think it would be a big deal, since you supposedly moved on."

"I did move on, Hunter!" She cried out loud. "I just didn't want him to see me all alone and thinking I haven't moved on by now."

"Who cares what he thinks?"

"Well I do!" Hunter fell silent. He has never seen Tori so angry at him before, and he refuses to make matters even worst. "You know what, forget it. I feel such an idiot right now." Tori chuckled out of humiliation.

He sighs deeply. "You're not an idiot."

"I should just go."

"No, wait." Tori stops dead in her tracks. She turned back around and faced Hunter.

"What's happening?" Dustin whispers, eager to know more as the room fell silent once again.

"I don't know." Shane hisses back irritably. "Maybe if you stop talking, we may know what's happening afterall." He looks away and listens.

"Give me your hand."

"Excuse me?" She chuckles as Hunter steps forward.

He brings his hand out. "Seriously, give me your hand."

"You're not trying to propose to me, are you?" Her eyebrows furrowed in curiosity.

Hunter scoffs with a dirty look. "No way. Just trust me on this."

Tori looks down. "Whatever you say..." The two lock hands as he gradually brings her closer to him.

"Now close your eyes..."

She looks at him weirdly. "You're beginning to scare me, Hunter. This is sounding a lot like one of the Titanic scenes. What's next? You're gonna show me how to fly?"

He glares at her. "Do you want to see your Valentine's gift or not?"

"How am I supposed to see it with my eyes closed?" Tori pauses in mid sentence as she searches his eyes carefully. "Whoa. Whoa. What Valentine's gift?"

Hunter smiles. "Well...I was going to wait till tomorrow, but I see that you're feeling down at the moment and I thought I'd cheer you up a bit."

"You're kidding." She splutters out shockingly. "You didn't have to do this..."

"Don't worry. I got some help from my students." Tori weakly smiles as the feeling of guilt rushed in. "Come on. It's outside."

"Outside?"

"Yeah." Hunter takes her hand and pulls her along towards the backdoor. He led Tori to the garage as it begins to slowly open.

"Oh...my...goodness..." Her eyes fell open at the sight of a new light blue caravan with eight seats, automatic doors that opened on both sides, a sunroof, and a personalized license plate number with her name on it.

"You like it?"

"Like it!" Tori couldn't get over the big surprise as her mouth fell open. "Hunter, it's great and all." She stammered on her sentence. "But I can't accept this."

He frowned. "You have to. My students and I worked hard to raise the money."

She chuckled in disbelief. "Exactly."

"For you though, Tori. I did this for you."

She looks up at him. "But why? This is just too much."

"Because I care, and you're my friend."

Tori smiles as she turns her gaze over to the van. She couldn't get her way out of this one, not that she didn't want to. The van was a true beauty. It was the most outrageous thing anyone has ever done for her, needless to say, the best and most extravagant present she ever received for Valentine's Day. "You're too sweet, Hunter."

He grins at her comment, which must've been difficult for her to say. "Do you have any idea how long I've been waiting to hear those words from you?"

"A lifetime I supposed?"

"Oh yeah." Hunter joked around with her as he stuffs his hands into his jean pockets, digging for the set of keys. He knew right there and then that his goal was accomplished as he made her smile and laugh once again. "Want to take it for a ride down the block?" Hunter dangles the keys in front of her.

She smiles excitedly on the idea as her eyes open wide. "Sure!"

"Alright, but I'm driving." He runs to the driver's seat, taking full advantage with the keys in his hand.

Tori pouts and follows. "Hey!"

* * *

Silence cast over Conner and Kira as they drifted off to their own world. While the musician continue scribbling furiously in her notebook, Conner made it seem as if he was browsing through a Sports Illustrated magazine when all he was interested in was Kira. He would look up and steal a quick glance from her every second that passes by. However, the appearance of his crush made him feel ill at ease. "Ahem." He coughed with force to grab her attention, but received no answer in return. He tried again. "AHEM."

Kira looks up from her notebook. "Yes?"

"Oh. Nothing. I'm okay." She lifted her eyebrows and went back to work. "Just curious..." Conner started out. "Did you find out who sent you those flowers?" He casually asks.

"Nope. It slipped my mind."

"Do you even care?"

Kira pathetically shrugged her shoulders. "It's probably some sick joke. I'm thinking one of the football jocks pulled it off or whatever."

Conner bit his lip. "What if I tell you it was me?"

She takes her eyes away from the notebook and stares directly at him. "Well was it?"

"It's a_ what if_ question, Kira."

She smirks. "I wouldn't believe it."

"Guess what?" His resonating tone became deadly serious.

Kira looks up to meet his gaze. "What?"

"It was_ me_."

* * *

**A/N:** Only two more or so chapters left. Don't forget to review on your way out. Cheers!


	11. Blind Sight

**A/N:** It's been awhile since I last updated and I apologize for keeping you waiting. I've been real busy. But anyway...the lastest chapter is finally here, so enjoy!

* * *

Chapter 11

**"Blind Sight"**

"What?" Kira splutters out in disbelief as Conner slowly shifts his shy eyes away from her. "It was you all along?"

He looks down timidly and nods. "Yup...it was me."

Cold, awkward silence filled in the spaces between them despite the rattling the customers were making as Kira searches his serious eyes carefully. It was as though they were the only two people in the room, which wasn't the case. "Ugh." She scoffs out of nowhere. "Typical Conner." The musician grunted while rolling her eyes. "I should have known."

He raised an eyebrow in utter confusion. "Huh?"

"Conner McKnight, the jock, who has his way of pulling pranks on everyone. Typical."

"But, Kira"

"You know, you haven't changed a bit."

"It's not a prank, Kira!" He argues back defensively. "I did it because I like you, okay? I really like you."

Her lips slightly parted. "Is this some sick joke?"

"Why would I lie to you?" She tilted her head to the side. "Oh, right...typical me." He adds in sarcasm.

"Well, you're the smart one."

"Kira."

"What?" She shots back irritably.

"You have no idea how uneasy I feel right now." His voice changed into a deep, and more serious tone. "Here I am unraveling my feelings to you, and you're giving me all this...crap!" Kira's mouth fell open. "Well, you know what? I've changed since I became a ranger, Kira and somehow I developed these feelings for you, and I can't explain why because I don't know why." She looks down to avert from his gaze. He sighs. "Listen, I don't want to put you on the spot and make you feel uncomfortable around me because that's the last thing I want. I just want to know if there's a little part of you that feels the same way for me."

Kira jolted up from her seat, suddenly angry with him. "Why are you doing this?" She exclaims. "I really like Trent, and I'm going to the dance with him. You can't make me be the bad guy here, Conner."

"That's not what I asked." He argues. "And I'm not intentionally trying to make you look like the bad guy."

"Then why tell me now? Why wait half the school year to tell me?"

"Because I was afraid."

"Of what?" She questioned.

"Hey." Kira turns around, only to be interrupted by Trent. Conner looks away as Trent stares at the two weirdly. "Uh...is this a bad time." Trent asks in bewilderment. 'Well, duh.' Conner thought, rolling his eyes from behind.

"No." The musician forces a weak smile as she gives Conner the evil glare. "We were just talking."

He cringed his forehead and nods. "Okay. I'm on my break and I thought you would want to go and grab a bite to eat with me."

"Sure!" Kira exaggerated her excitement while looking his way and making sure Conner has heard it as well. "I would love to!"

"Cool." Trent turns to the guy in red. "Want to come along, man?"

Conner scratches the back of his head. "Actually..."

"What!" Kira exclaims surprisingly with Trent's offer. "Why?"

Trent stares at her suspiciously due to her abrupt tone, which was unlike Kira. "Uhh...why not?" He questioned worriedly.

"Because!" She pauses and crosses her arms. "Conner is busy! Besides, he has some studying to do."

"No, I don't."

Kira shot him a glance. "Yes, you do."

He slightly chuckles. "This is killing you, isn't it? You can't handle the truth."

Trent eyes them curiously, drawn to the tension boiling up between Conner and Kira. Something wasn't right as he tries to find out. "What truth?"

"Forget it." The jock sighed deeply. "You guys go ahead. I'm obviously unwanted in the group." He excuses himself and left their table to join Ethan at the laptops. Kira looks down guiltily as Trent waits for answers.

"Mind telling me what's going on?"

She looks up at him. "Conner and I just don't see eye to eye that's all."

* * *

_The following day..._

"Thanks for coming." Dr. Oliver invited Shane, Tori, and Dustin inside his home as they followed Hayley down the basement. Once they made themselves comfortable on the stair steps, Tommy Oliver begins with Hayley standing by his side. "Alright, I brought you guys here so that we could discuss some rules about chaperoning, and what you're supposed to do basically on school campus."

"No offense, Dr. Oliver." Tori suddenly broke in to their discussion. "But we were once high school students not too long ago, and we know that chaperones just stand around and watch to babysit kids who can't seem get their hands off each other and our job is to make sure that doesn't happen."

Dustin scoffs in disgust. "Dude, I so didn't need to know that."

"Oh yeah right." Tori chuckles and faces him. "I see the way you dance and it's definitely not clean."

"Guys?" They look up at the irritated Tommy Oliver. "Can we just get right to the point here?" Tori and Dustin nodded their heads. "Alright, thank you. As I was saying, the reason why we ask you to chaperone tomorrow night is because we strongly believe Mesogog could attack at any moment, and this would be the perfect opportunity for him."

"At a school dance?" Tori thought. "Well, that's sucks."

"We're willing to help Dr. O, but without our ranger powers?"

"Yeah." Dustin agrees with Shane's reasoning. "How are we supposed to stop Mesogog without our ranger powers? I mean, are our ninja powers even enough to destroy him?"

He smiles. "You guys are highly trained, experienced ninjas. Your skills go beyond what Conner, Kira, Ethan, and Trent could even do. I wouldn't have asked you to do us this favor if we didn't believe in you."

They nodded when suddenly their thoughts were interrupted by footsteps coming from above. Tommy and Hayley were drawn to the attention as all eyes turn to the opening door.

"We heard that." Conner, Ethan, and Kira appeared with Hunter struggling as captive.

"Dude, let go." The thunder ninja grunted as he tries to loosen their grip around his wrist.

Tori's lips slightly parted. "Hey!" She walks up the stair steps and pulls Hunter away from their grasp. "What's the deal?"

She turns to the dirty blonde for answers. "They think I was spying when I was only trying to find a way to get in." He stated angrily while glaring at the Dino Rangers. "Thanks to them, I'm late."

"How can you do this to us, Dr. O?" Conner questioned after overhearing his conversation with the Wind Ninjas. "Why hand them the responsibility to take down Mesogog? Are we not good enough is that it?

"Yeah." Ethan agrees with him for once. "Just because we're not exactly trained doesn't mean we're completely useless."

Tori rolls her eyes. "What's with the attitude? We're only trying to help."

"Well, we don't need your help." Conner shot back coldly. "You've done your part as power rangers, and now it's our turn."

"You guys are getting the wrong idea here." Hayley stated in their defense. "It's gonna take all of us to defeat Mesogog."

Kira nods. "Yeah. Not to mention the fact that we do need help. Stop trying to be a one man army, Conner."

"Why won't you stay out of this?"

Shane, Tori, Dustin, and Hunter exchange awkward glances. "Uh...I think we'll just leave."

"Yeah. I think that's a good idea." Conner blurted out.

Tommy Oliver looks his way. "No. This is my house and you don't make the decisions around here, Conner. What is up with you today? I don't like the tone you're using on me and your friends."

"Yeah, man." Ethan nudges his shoulder. "Lighten up. It's Valentine's Day."

"It is?"

All eyes turn to Dustin. "I guess someone lost track of time eh?" Tori smirks for her amusement.

"Yeah, well so what if it's Valentine's Day?" Conner grunted out of annoyance. "I don't see the point in celebrating it. It makes us single people with no dates for the dance look bad."

The blonde surfer places a hand on his shoulder. "I know how you feel." Kira bit her buttom lip and looks down.

"You do?"

"Uh huh. I don't like the idea of celebrating Valentine's Day either. I, myself, haven't been dating as much."

"Wait a minute. How is that even possible? You're hot." Ethan inquires as he, then turns to Conner. "And I thought you have a date for the dance."

"Well, it turns out she's not interested."

"Ouch." Hunter made a hurt face.

"That explains why you're being a complete jerk then." Tori adds on.

"No!" Kira snaps. "He's always been a jerk!" Everyone turns to her. "You see...this is what I was afraid of. You're doing it again. I mean, what is a girl supposed to do when you tell her how you feel the day before the Valentine's Day Dance and she's already interested in someone else? You can't do this to me, Conner! I like Trent and that's it." The room fell silent.

Conner rolled his eyes. "You told me that so many times. I don't need you rubbing it in my face. You like Trent I get it. But what I want to know is if you feel the same way for me. Even if it's that tiny part of you."

"No! I told you no!" She screamed, suddenly losing it.

"You know what? I think you do."

"What?"

"If you didn't feel the same way for me, Kira...then you wouldn't make such a big deal about it." He pauses. "But look, you're yelling at me in front of these people and trying so hard to avoid me down the hallways. Well I have news for you, Kira. You can't hide from the truth forever."

She nods her head in dismay, in the verge of crying from the humilation. "That's something you shouldn't worry about because I already know the truth, Conner and there's no way I'm hiding." Kira stares carefully at him. "The only person that's hiding here is you."

"Me?"

"Yes, you! You've been hiding this secret of yours for months now and you weren't brave enough to tell me till now! Great timing on your part, Conner." Kira adds sarcastically. "I mean really."

"Would it even make a difference if I have told you then?" He asks.

"Yes. I mean no." Kira was suddenly confused. "Maybe? I don't know." She shook her head. "Oh God, what am I saying? Stop confusing me, Conner!"

His eyes widen. "Oh my God, it would've made a difference."

"It doesn't matter now. Even if you have told me then, it wouldn't change the way I feel for Trent."

There was a moment of awkward silence as everyone in the room wait patiently for Conner's response. He turns to Kira and nodded his head. "Alright. I understand." Defeated, he gave up.

She wrinkles her forehead, surprised with his change of tone. "You do?"

"Yeah, go to the dance with him. Have fun."

"That's it?"

"What more do you want from me, Kira? You want Trent and you obviously have strong feelings for him. I'm just gonna have to accept that." She nods her head. "Anyway, Happy Valentine's Day." Conner hands her a cassette tape from his red jacket. "Listen to it." Kira looks at him quizzically. "I'll be at home playing video games."

"Oh, can I go?" Dustin asks.

Shane nudges his shoulder. "You're chaperoning remember?"

"Aww, dude."

"You should go to the dance, Conner." Tommy Oliver tells him. "Date or not, it's all about having fun. Why won't you grab a few friends with no dates and party or something?"

"That's because they all have dates. I don't." Conner's voice was filled with frustration. "It's only a stupid dance. Stop pushing me to go!" The jock yelled as he promptly leaves the room.

"Conner!"

Hayley stops Tommy from going after him. "Leave him. He needs some time." They all nodded as Kira turned away and sighs. 'Man oh man.' She thought sadly. 'What am I gonna do?'

* * *

_Moments later..._

"Can you believe what just happened back there?" The blonde questioned in disbelief.

"Oh yeah." Hunter chuckles as he and Tori separated themselves from the group to get away from the drama. The others went back home as they drited deep into the forest with another of their long conversations before getting ready to chaperone that night. "And I thought I had problems in high school."

"No kidding."

"I remember my freshmen year." Hunter smirks. "It was the first day of high school in Biology class and I get to sit next to his really cute chick. She was so damn cute, I swear I couldn't stop looking at her." Tori smiles in awe. "So we got to know each other and I immediately became interested. She's smart, bubbly, athletic..." He trails off. "Now that I think about it, she reminds me of you."

Tori chuckles. "Yeah right."

"No, I'm serious."

She smiles. "Go on."

Hunter pursed his lips. "Then I found out that she was into my best friend."

"Ouch." Tori frowned on his behalf. "That hurts."

He shrugged. "So what about you and your experiences in high school? Huh?"

"Oh no." She nods her head in refusal. "I don't even want to talk about it."

"Oh come on!" He exclaims anxiously. "It can't be that bad."

"No. Seriously, Hunter. Trust me on this. I've had my heart broken so many times, I just don't want to have to live through it again." She looks down and sighs at the thought.

"I'm sorry." He apologizes sincerely. "But if it's any consolation, I would've stuck up longer...and maybe even forever."

Tori stops and looks at him. "Are you flirting with me, Hunter Bradley?" She smiles. "Or are you just trying to be cute?"

Hunter raises an eyebrow. "No...I was just being honest. Tori, all the guys that you've went out with have no idea what they're missing. They turned down a great opportunity of a lifetime and that is to be with you."

"Yeah? Then how come so many felt the same way and decided to leave? Even Blake."

"They're idiots, Tori. Well, except for my brother of course." He thought. "Long distance relationships don't work. Maybe for some people, but from what I've experience in the past, it's really hard to live by. But anyway, you need someone who will look after you, take care of you, and will always be there for you. Someone who understands you...well, may not with agree with you in certain things but still respect your decisions, someone that will never give up on you despite the hardships in life, someone like...

"You?"

Hunter looks her way and stood quiet. "I wasn't trying to describe myself if that's what you think I'm doing." Tori flashes him a smile as she went up on her tiptoes and kissed him lightly on the cheek. Once her lips touched his skin, he blushed. "What was that for?"

She smiles. "For everything you've done for me."

He grins, pleased with his unexpected reward for his kind soul. "Do I get another one on the lips?" Hunter asks playfully.

Tori shot him an evil, nasty glare. "Don't push it."

* * *

**A/N:** Final chapter coming soon! Review please.


	12. A Night To Remember

**A/N:** It's been so long! But the final chapter is here! Thanks again for all your lovely reviews. Enjoy!

* * *

Chapter 12

**"A Night To Remember"**

_On the way to the dance..._

"I'm bored." Dustin murmurs from the back seat. He sighs deeply out of boredom and leans forward to turn on the radio. "Are we there yet?" Tori looks at him from the mirror and rolls her eyes.

_"I can't live without  
can't breathe without you  
i dream about you  
honestly tell me that's it's over  
cause if the world is spinning and i'm still living  
it won't be right if we're not in it together  
tell me that its over  
and i'll be the first to go  
don't wanna be the last to know..."_

Dustin continues to sing along to the music when suddenly Tori switches the radio off. "Dude," he scoffs, "what was that for?"

"There will be no Lindsay Lohan playing in my van." She tells him seriously. Shane chuckles as Dustin pouts sadly in response.

"You know, the song is pretty catchy."

"It's not the song." Shane turns around from the front seat. "It's your singing that's irritating."

"Hey!" Dustin groans offensively. "My voice isn't that bad."

"You were totally off pitch."

"What do you know about singing?"

"I sing remember?"

"So?"

The trio were dressed in their formal wear for the dance. Shane and Dustin both wore tucks with a red or yellow tie. Tori, on the other hand, wore a long black skirt with a blue top and matching high heels. Her hair was done in curls and she looked stunning. It wasn't very often when the guys get to see Tori all dressed up. In fact, it was rare and quite amusing to see her in high heels and complaining about how much they hurt.

"So are we there yet?" Dustin asks again a few seconds later.

Tori grunted irritably. "No, Dustin. Not yet."

"Well hurry up." He was beginning to lose his patience. "I don't want to keep Marah waiting."

"Don't rush me. I was in a car accident a few days ago, remember?"

"Yeah, thanks to Elsa."

They were driving along the soft, narrow, paved road when suddenly Tori's eyes caught someone on the middle of the road, forcing her to push on the brakes and creating the annoying sound of tires screeching. "Whoa!" Shane and Dustin panted breathlessly as soon as she made a complete stop. "Note to self, never get in a car with Tori."

"You just had to mentioned her name, didn't yah?" Tori's eyes narrowed straight ahead. "Look." Their eyes widens at the sight of Elsa, looking evil as ever.

"Hi, Rangers." She grins maliciously. "Remember me?"

"Dude, we don't have time for this."

Tori pulls on the brake and started backing up her van. "Not a problem."

"What do you think you're doing?" Shane asks with his eyebrows raised.

"What I should have done the first place." Tori stops and smirks at her male companions. "Run that bitch over."

Shane and Dustin exchange worried looks. "Uh...Tori, I don't think that's a good idea."

"Oh yeah it is." She turns back around and shifts the vehicle into drive. Tori glares evilly at Elsa's direction and presses down hard onto the accelerator. "Hold on, guys!" Shane and Dustin held on tightly as her speed limit reached over 80 miles per hour. Elsa gets ready to retaliate when suddenly she disappeared out in the opening. Tori gasps as she pressed on the brake and came to a complete stop. "Whoa!"

"Damn it." She muttered, turning around from her seat. "Where did she go?" The trio took out their seatbelts and immediately got out of the vehicle. It was almost dark as they found themselves halfway to Reefside High and in the middle of the forest.

"Good, she's gone." Dustin says thankfully. "We can just leave."

"I don't think so, buddy." They turned around, only to be greeted by Elsa's dreadful voice once again. She folded her arms and grins. "You amateurs aren't going anywhere tonight." Tori makes a balled fist to her side. "And you!" Elsa snaps at the blonde. "Shouldn't you be finished by now?"

She scoffs. "Oh please. No one can take me down that easily."

"Dude, that is so true." Dustin adds. "I remember the time when Tori"

"Dustin!" Shane and Tori snapped at their goofball friend in unison.

"Alright. Alright. Shall we then?"

They both nodded. "Ready?" Tori says as she steps up front to lead the team.

"Ready!"

"Ninja Storm! Ranger"

"Wait a minute." Dustin scratches the top of his head. "We don't even have our ranger powers."

"No duh!" Elsa laughed hysterically. "Pathetic fools! You actually think you can defeat me without your ranger powers!" They looked down in disbelief.

"This can't be happening! We're gonna be late for the dance!"

"Dude," Shane turns to Dustin ridiculously, "how can you possibly be thinking about that right now when God knows this could be our last night alive?"

He scoffs. "Exactly!"

Tori rolls her eyes. "That's it!" She was now in her ninja suit and ready to take Elsa down. "I'm through with you ruining my day!" The blonde gets into her fighting stance as the guys did the same.

Elsa slowly takes her sword out. Desperation for revenge was in her grasp. "Suit it yourselves."

* * *

Meanwhile, the dance turned out to be a great success as the gym room begin to fill up. The gym was well decorated with confetti hearts scattered on tables and balloons lighting up the room with bright colors of red, pink, white, and purple. Students and staff members of Reefside High began dancing the night away to a fast tempo music as Tommy and Hayley stood aside from the crowd.

"What time is it, Hayley?"

"A quarter till nine."

"Great." He muttered under his breath. "It's been nearly an hour. Where could they possibly be?"

"Hey, guys." Hunter, Marah, and Kapri approached them after spending some time on the dance floor.

"Anything, Dr. O?" The dirty blonde asks worriedly.

The veteran deeply sighs. "I'm afraid not, Hunter."

"Question. Are they always this late for class?" Hayley wonders out of curiosity.

"Well, no." Marah answered. "You see, as long as they have Tori with them, they're never late."

Tommy nods his head. "So I take that she is the reliable and responsible one in the group."

"Yup!"

He sighs. "That figures."

"You think maybe they're stuck doing late night practices or something?" Hayley suggested.

Kapri shrugged her shoulders in response. "Not that we know of."

"Hmm..."

"Look, I think we should just chill out about this. I'll go and see if I can contact them."

"Good idea, Hunter."

The music stopped as everyone in the room applauded for the band. Kira, in her beautiful yellow dress and black boots, walks back to the table with Trent. Once they took a seat, Kira turned around and found Ethan alone getting punch at the food table. She smiled, taking it as an opportunity to talk to him. "Hey, I'm gonna go and get us a drink okay?"

"Well, stay here and I'll get it."

"No, it's fine. I'll do it." She insisted. "So what do you want?"

He gives in to her offer. "Pink lemonade would be fine."

"Alright." Kira smiles wide. "I'll be right back." She walks through the dancing crowd and makes it safely to the other side of the gym floor. The music continued to play loudly upon her approach as people greeted her along the way. "Hey!" She yelled, competing with the volume. Ethan turned around and faces her. "You alright!"

He frowned. "What does it look like?"

Kira pursed her lips. "What happened!"

Ethan grunted. "You were right about Joanna and I don't wanna hear I told you so!" He sighs. "I just caught her exchanging cash with one of the football jocks and, apparently, her taking me to the dance was the bet."

Kira looks down sympathetically. "I'm so sorry, Ethan."

He shrugged his shoulders. "Don't sweat it. I should be the one saying sorry. I was the one who didn't believe you the first place."

"It's okay, Ethan. At least now you know the truth."

"Yeah...I mean I should have known. Who would want to go out with a geek like me anyway..."

"Hey, Ethan!" The fabulous Joanna Bryant links arms with him from behind. "I was looking all over for you. Want to dance?" Kira rolls her eyes.

"Does it come with a payment?"

She cringes her forehead. "What are you talking about?"

"What? I'm just not good enough for you? So how much am I worth huh?"

Joanna Bryant chuckles. "I don't know what you're talking about. Come on, let's dance."

"Wait up, Joanna."

She grunted irritably. "What do you want, Ms. Ford? Shouldn't you be with your date and not tagging on mine?"

"I was just gonna say your dress looks very pretty." She observes.

Ethan looks at her weirdly. "Thank you." Joanna giggles. "But I already know that."

"However, I think it would look better with some red." Kira grins as she tips her cup over her head. Punch came dripping all over her blonde hair and onto her white dress. Joanna began screaming furiously as students around them laugh their heads off.

"Oh my God, Kira!" She yells out as Ethan's mouth fell open in surprise. "How could you!"

The musician grins. "I think it's about time someone shuts you off, don't you think?"

"ARGH!" The former Homecoming Queen yells out angrily. "You are so gonna pay for this! Ethan!"

"What?"

Do something!" She ordered.

"Me?" He smirks. "I don't think so. I'm with Kira on this one."

Joanna's eyes widen. "ARGH!" She screamed even louder out of frustration. Her friends and many others just laughed at her. "I don't believe this!" Joanna cries as she ran towards the restroom in humiliation.

"Glad that scared her off."

"Ha. Good job." Ethan gives Kira a high-five.

"Now that she's off your back, why don't you hang out with us?"

"Isn't that kind of awkward?" He thought. "I'm dateless. There's no reason for me to be here."

"Hey, Ethan!" The lovely Cassidy throws her arms around him out of nowhere. "Want to dance?"

He looks at Kira and grins. "Alright, sure."

"Yay! Come on!" She excitedly drags him to the dance floor. Meanwhile, upon Kira's arrival to the table, she finds that Trent was no longer at his seat. She turned around in bewilderment with the drinks still in hand. 'Where did he go?' She thought.

"Dr. O..." Trent made his way to the small crowd as he exchange awkward looks with Hunter, Marah and, Kapri. "Uh...what's going on here?" He asks. They stood quiet, and looking rather tired of sitting around.

"We're chaperoning, remember?" Hunter reminded him.

"Yeah, but I just saw you guys dancing moments ago." Trent looks around and notice a few people missing. "Where are the others?"

Hayley sighs. "Not here yet."

"You kidding?" He scoffs. "It's been 90 minutes?"

"90 minutes of what?" Principle Randall suddenly makes her way to their table. Everyone remained silent. "Well, Dr. O...we are short of chaperones. Mind telling me where your friends are?"

"Oh...umm...well, they're in the restroom right now." He stammers nervously.

"All three of them?"

The veteran exchange looks with the others. Marah then spoke for the group. "They are really good friends, Mrs..."

"It's Principle Randall." She corrects her.

"Right." The brunette continues on. "As I was saying...they're um...very...inseparable." Hunter and Kapri chuckled. Principle Randall shot a glance at them and stood quiet.

"Sorry."

"Very well." She tells them. "If they do come back, I would like to see them in a few minutes."

They nodded their heads. "Not a problem."

She stares at them carefully while lowering her reading glasses and seconds later, leaving the table. Tommy, Hayley, Trent, Hunter, Kapri, and Marah sighed in relief. "That was close."

"Maybe this was a bad idea..."

"Don't worry! They'll show." Hunter reassures them. "I know they will..."

Kapri looks at him and smirks. "Uh huh."

"What?"

"Nothing."

"Then what's with the _uh huh_?" He says mockingly.

She grins. "I just never seen you so worried before."

"So you're saying I never care?"

"No, just saying that..." Kapri trails off. "Nevermind."

"Hey..." Kira finally joins the crowd as everyone else greeted her. She then turns her haze over to Trent. "I was looking all over for you."

"I'm sorry. I got caught up with these guys just hanging around."

"That's our job." Marah retorts.

He looks at her and weakly smiles. "Oh, that's right."

"Hey." Kapri grabs everyone's attention. "Where did Hunter go?"

* * *

The former Wind Rangers continue to struggle as Elsa and Tyranodrones outnumber them. As Shane and Dustin work together to defeat the Tyranodrones, Tori single handedly tries to bring Elsa down but years of training at the Wind Ninja Academy wasn't good enough as she falls from attempting to use her power of water against her. "You fool!" Elsa snarls as she abruptly picks her up by the hair, forcing Tori to rise to her feet. "You think a splash of water is gonna bring me down!" She laughs. Tori narrows her eyes as she grunted in pain and struggles to break free. Elsa then raises her sword in midair in preparation to strike. "Face it, honey. You're finished!" Shane and Dustin look over as they become swarm with more Tyranodrones appearing from a dark green portal.

"NO!" They yelled out, as their eyes grew larger. "TORI!"

"Ha! Say goodbye, Blondie!"

"I don't think so!" A spark of lightning knocks the sword from off her hand.

Elsa turns around, taken by surprise. "Hunter!" Tori exclaims surprisingly. He looks at her and smiles. _'Thank goodness.'_ He thought in relief. _'Just in time.'_ The dirty blonde then faces Elsa.

"Let her go!" He demanded sharply as he gets into a fighting stance.

She snarls at him. "In your dreams, boy!" Her laughter was filled with pure evil. "You can never defeat me without your ranger powers!"

"But we will!"

Elsa abruptly turns her head, only to be greeted by the Dino Rangers. "Give it up, Elsa!"

"Never!"

"Hiya!" Tori, using the distraction as a good opportunity, suddenly leg sweep her to the ground and flips back on her feet. The two went at it again, but this time, Tori had the upper handusing her all to bring Elsa to her defeat. The rest watches on in amazement with the use of her powers as the evil Elsa began struggling. Tori blocked another one of her shots as she kicked her right on the stomach. Elsa stumbles backwards while arching down in pain. "You got lucky time!" She says weakly. "We'll meet again." Elsa makes her warning as she retreated and disappeared in the dark green portal, along with the Tyranodrones.

Tori crosses her arms and smirks. "And just for the record, no one pulls on my hair!"

Hunter, Dustin, and Shane smiled in relief as they ran to her. "Power down!" All five Dino Rangers were back in their civilian form as they caught up with the former rangers.

"You guys alright?" Kira asks.

Tori cracked a small smile. "Yeah, we're fine."

"YES!" Dustin shouts out in triumph. "Now we can go to the dance!"

Kira smiles as she slowly shifts her gaze over to Conner, surprised that he showed up afterall. "You coming?" She softly spoke.

"I don't think so."

* * *

They all made their safe return to Reefside High as a few began dancing to a fast tempo beat. Everyone was enjoying themselves and having the time of their lives. Dustin and Marah spent the last half hour on the dance floor as Shane, Trent, and Tommy discussed something interesting next to the refreshment area. Tori stood aside with Kira as the two women got along for once and drown themselves into a conversation that only girls would understand. Meanwhile, Hunter and Kapri stood on the other side of the building, watching the night go by. The pinkhead stares at him from the corner of her eyes before letting out a groan.

"You know you want to ask her to dance."

Hunter gives his female companion a funny look. "What are you talking about?"

"You mean whom am I talking about?" She smirks playfully. "You are such a wuss."

"What? I am not a wuss."

"Then ask her to dance."

"I do not dance!" He argues back.

"You just danced awhile ago!"

"Well..." Hunter trails off. "I'm tired!"

Kapri folds her arms and looks straight ahead at an unexpected guest who just walked in. "Uh huh. You better ask her to dance before he does."

Hunter's head jolted up.

"Hey, ladies." Conner, in his nifty suit, made an unexpected appearance as he takes Kira and Tori by surprise.

"Conner!" The musician smiles wide. "What are you doing here? I thought you weren't going to come."

"Yeah...but I couldn't go without dancing with the most prettiest girl here." He looks at Tori and smiles, making Kira lower her head in sadness as a slow song came on.

_I don't talk  
I won't breath  
I won't move till you finally see  
That you belong to me_

"Can I have this dance, Kira?" Conner asks with a smile as he extended his hand.

Kira, overwhelmed with his request, looks at Tori, who gave her a little wink. _'Go for it.'_ She mouths to her.

Kira looks up at Conner and accepted his hand. "I would love to."

_You might think I don't look  
But deep inside the corner of your mind  
I'm attached to you  
I'm weak it's true  
'Cause I'm afraid to know the answer  
Do you want me too?  
'Cause my heart keeps falling faster_

"I listened to your tape." Kira whispers in his ear as they slow danced to the music.

"And?" Conner gently tightens his hold around her petite waist.

"Your voice wasn't that bad."

He scoffs. "Hey, I only had like a month of voice lessons."

She chuckles. "Yeah, but you did it for me." She searches his eyes carefully. "Why?"

He shrugged. "You love music so much...and I thought singing would get you to understand how I feel about you, and maybe get it through your head better."

Kira smiles in awed. "That's so sweet."

_I've waited all my life to cross this line  
To the only thing that's true  
So I will not hide,  
it's time to try  
Anything to be with you  
All my life I've waited, this is true_

"Hey, you're hot." Tori lost her train of thought as she turns around in disgust to face a high school student. "Want to dance?" He asks.

"I'm a chaperone, kid. Get lost."

"Well, you don't look like it. How old are you?"

"Old enough to kick your butt if you stop hitting on me."

"Fiesty." He smirks. "I like that."

She rolls her eyes. "So are you new here? I'm only a junior"

Tori ignored him when suddenly Hunter took his place. "Kid, let me take it from here."

He gives him a dirty look. "Who are you?"

"The boyfriend."

His response made Tori's lips open in shocking amusement.

"Oh..." The guy looked terrified at the way Hunter was beaming coldly at him. "I was just about to leave."

"Yeah. I thought so." Hunter smirks as he faces Tori.

She glares at him. "That was kind of mean, don't you think?"

"Hey, I don't get a thank you?"

"You are so not my boyfriend."

"Well, at least it scared him off."

Tori kept quiet.

_You don't know  
what you do  
Everytime you want into the room  
I'm afraid to move  
I'm weak it's true  
I'm just scared to know the ending  
Do you see me too?  
Do you even know you met me?_

"Do you want to dance?" Hunter finally asks.

Tori turns to him and smiles. "Under one condition."

"What's that?" He thought worriedly.

"If I catch your hand going below my waist, I'll hurt you." She warns him seriously as Hunter nodded his head. "Real bad."

"Not even a goodnight kiss?" He smirks teasingly.

She gives him a suspicious eye. "Are you interested in me or something?"

"No, I just wanna see if you'd do it."

Tori shrugs. "Well that's just too bad. Because I was going to."

His smile suddenly turned into a frown. "What?"

* * *

**A/N:** That's it, folks! You can guess what happens next! I'm done. Final comments will be much appreciated. Thanks for reading!


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